Student Visit Program
by Freyr-Knight
Summary: The Alice Academy sends 6 students to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, but must make their Alice a secret. There, they meet Echizen Ryoma and the gang... will romance and jealousy blossom? PoT and GA Crossover! RxRxMxN
1. The Student Visit Program

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Chapter 1: The Student Visit Program**

"Good morning!" 13 years old Sakura Mikan chirps lively as she enters her classroom, her auburn brown hair in two pigtails, her smile brightening even the dark corners of the four-walled room.

"Good morning, Mikan!" Yuu, Anna, and Nonoko greet back with a smile, looking up to their classmate. Hotaru, who was reading the latest version of a Techonology-something book, pulls out a "Baka Gun" below her chair and starts to aim at Mikan.

"Hoootttaaarrrruuuuu!!!" Mikan then exclaims as she runs in slow-motion to her emotionless best friend. But, alas, before she took another step forward, Hotaru pulls the Baka Gun trigger three times, sending Air Punches to the too-much energetic One-Star Alice user.

_**Baka! Baka! Baka!**_

"Don't get too close to me, idiot," Hotaru coldly tell her best friend, putting away the Baka Gun from eyes' reach. "I don't want your stupidity to spread to me."

"Waaaah! Hotaru, you're so mean!" Mikan cries as she accepts Yuu's hand to stand up. Then, as if having mood swings because of a girl's thing, Mikan smiles brightly and claps her hands. "But I still forgive you since you're my best friend in the whole wide world!"

"She changes her mood rather quickly…" Yuu comments with an awkward smile, sitting beside the quiet Hotaru. "It's a little freaky."

"It's a sign of idiocy," Hotaru replies with a bored tone, flipping a few pages of her newly purchased book. Mikan was always like this even since way back in the countryside. Yuu wasn't alone with that thought. "You better not spoil her, Tobita…"

After that moment, a certain Fire-caster and an Animal Lover enters the room through the back door, and are greeted by Mikan.

"Good morning, Ruka-pyon! Good morning, Natsume!" Mikan greets with her trademark smile that seems so childish but so heart-warming at the same time. Unlucky for her, she didn't notice the light blush that crept up to Ruka's cheeks.

"G-Good morning, Sakura-san," Ruka greets back, patting the bunny that was in his arms. "You're lively as usual."

"Tch," Natsume grumbles, ignoring the usual morning greeting Mikan gave him. He walks to his chair and then tries to read a manga he just bought in Central Town. But deep inside, he's glad Mikan is still greeting him even though he constantly tries to push her away every single day. It's a man's thing not to let go of their pride.

Mikan crosses her arms and pouts angrily. She turns to her blonde friend and asks, "Mou, why is Natsume so cold, Ruka-pyon? I just greeted him nicely!" Ruka just smiles at her apologetically and then both sit down as Jinno-sensei entered the classroom.

The cold teacher clears his throat and then announces to the not-listening class, "Everyone, I have a special announcement to make. This school year, the Alice Academy has decided to enter a Student Visit Program together with another normal school named Seigaku High."

This announcement, although strangely, caught everyone's attention. Natsume lowers his manga while Hotaru puts down her book. Koko stops reading the mind of his fellow classmate and even Mikan shut up.

_Well, that seemed to work, _Jinno thinks to himself. He adjusts his glasses and then clears his throat once again, "Hmm, as I was saying, I will choose six students of this class to go and school in Seigaku High for a half a year as a first year in junior high, but with three conditions: a.) They will limit the use of their Alice; b.) They must let their Alice a secret and; c.) Throughout their six months stay, they must act as normal as possible."

As Jinno finishes the second part of his announcements, whispers of excitement and doubt fills the once-quiet classroom. Some are thrilled to be able to have the chance to live a normal life outside Alice Academy, while some doubt that this is a good idea, since their level are way beyond of that a human. Besides, limiting their Alice is practically impossible, what about keeping it as a secret? Hah! That'll happen when heaven will crash into earth!

"Hmm… what do you think of this program, Natsume?" Ruka asks his best friend with a small smile, his hand patting his bunny. "Thinking of participating?"

Natsume rolls his eyes and then continues to read his manga, "Tch. It's utterly stupid."

Then, suddenly, Natsume overhears Mikan exclaim with excitement in her lively voice, "Ne, ne, Hotaru! Let's pray we get picked! I miss having a normal school life! Seigaku High seems like a fun school! We'll make new friends!"

Natsume then thinks to himself with a frown, _maybe I should participate if polka-dots participating… who knows what idiotic things she'll do there… sheesh, she always needs a babysitter…_

Jinno, noticing that the class was getting noisy with whispers of excitement, clears his throat to continue his announcement, "If all would be quiet, I would like to announce the six students that was picked, whether they like it or not."

Then, as if a miracle happened, the zoo of Alice users turned quiet obediently. Jinno smirks and then pulls out a small paper. He then reads, "My first pick would be Tobita Yuu, since he's the class representative. He will be the one responsible if anything happens or when something goes wrong during the flow of the program."

Yuu sighs to himself as his shoulders drops. He mumbles to himself as he adjusts his glasses that frames his eyes, "I don't know if I should be happy or sad about that…"

Jinno ignores the comment and reads on, "My second pick would be Imai Hotaru, since she's a three-star student, she's intelligent, and even though she's void of any kind of expression, she's someone that Alice Academy can show off."

Hotaru blinks and puts out her Baka Laser, an updated version of her Baka Gun, aims it at her teacher and asks flatly, "Would you like to be the first one to experience my Baka Laser, Jinno-sensei? It's free of charge, I guarantee that."

Jinno-sensei glares at her and replies, "I'll pass." Then, as if the "Baka Laser" incident didn't happen, Jinno reads on, "My third pick would be Yome Kokoro, because… hmm… he seems harmless to mankind."

All eyes then turns to the mind-reading Alice user who has that freaking creepy smile plastered on his face every single day, even while saying he met a murderer (A/n: Referring to Chapter 51 of the manga where he tells he had read an old lady's heart and discovered she was a murderer.), all with one question in their minds… "_**He is?"**_

"Fourth would be Nogi Ruka, because he's a three-star student and has a nice personality. It will balance the group," the cold-hearted teacher reads on. "Fifth would be Hyuuga Natsume, obviously because he's a Special Student, a boy genius, and has the potential to protect the group when something goes wrong."

Natsume rolls his eyes and continues to read his manga, appearing uninterested but showed no signs of protesting or arguing with the idea. Ruka just smiles on behalf of his quiet best friend.

Mikan looks down to her shoes, as if for the meantime, that it was the most interesting in the world. _I wonder if I'm going to be picked? Even Hotaru is participating… I don't want to be left alone! Oh, please, let the last one be me!_

"As for the last one," Jinno starts once again, pulling out another piece of paper from his pockets. "This is a special pick by your adviser, Narumi, so, if you want to be picked but you weren't chosen, don't go and come crying to me." The class soon feels nervous, anxious to know who'll the last one will be, even Jinno himself was getting nervous because even he doesn't know who Narumi chose.

"The last one…"

The class drops their things and leans closer to hear…

"… Whom Narumi-sensei chose is…"

The class leans closer and closer, restless to know…

"… Sakura…"

The class swallows hard as the lean a little bit closer, their breathing already being on stand by…

"… MIKAN?!"

"WHHHHHAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTT?????" everyone choruses in surprised and anger, except for the 6 chosen ones (Get it, chosen ones? XD).

Sumire clenches her fist and starts to complain, numerous fangirls behind her, "I can't believe this! A one-star with a useless Alice was chosen over a beautiful two-star like me! This can't be true! And she'll even be with Ruka-sama and Natsume-sama! NOOOOO!!!"

Mikan looks at her hands and grins wide. "YES!" she exclaims happily, punching her hand to the air, jumping with glee. She turns and then hugs Hotaru joyfully, glad that she'll be able to experience something new with her best friend. "Isn't this great, Hotaru? I've been chosen, I've been chosen!"

Hotaru continues reading her book without even bothering to look at her energetic friend. "Congratulations. Now would you please get off me or else I'll punch you with my Horse Shoe Glove."

Mikan ignores Hotaru's comments and continues to hug her best friend, obviously overwhelmed with happiness. To have a normal school life, with normal teachers, with normal activities and normal friends… it's something you have to grab while the opportunity is still there.

Of course, who wouldn't be happy?

Jinno, obviously disappointed with the last choice, crumbles the paper and forces a mock smile, thinking, _Damn you, Narumi… of all people, why this brat?! _He takes a big breath and announces the last part, "ANYWAY, since the six are chosen already, I will tell you the objective of the program. It is to improve your social skills and to let you experience a slice of what life really is outside Alice Academy. Any questions?"

Hotaru raises her hand. Jinno nods at her. She stands up and asks, "Where will we sleep? Where will we get food? And what about some allowance money?"

Jinno nods at her and tells her to sit down. He replies, "For money, each of every one of you will be given 200 Rabbits a month, and you will exchange that for the currency the outside world uses… which is Yen. So, apparently, you'll be given 20,000 yen each."

"Now, there is another purpose for this program," Jinno continues on. "Since it is to let you experience a normal life, each of you will go home separately. If that does not register in all your petty brains, it means that every student will go home in another student's house, and you will not be treated as a guest, but as a part of the family,"

Jinno pauses and takes another deep breath. Geez, explaining to such 13 year old kids is so tiring. "As I was saying, that means what the family you're appointed to do, you will also do, like cleaning household chores, going out for picnics, and, well, other normal stuff. The family will also provide you the food."

Mikan then stands up and asks with disbelief, "T-then you're saying, when we go home, we'll be separated?! I won't be beside Hotaru or Yuu or… or…"

"YES, SAKURA MIKAN, SO LIVE WITH IT," Jinno barks, electricity coming out of the stick he usually carries. "I will announce to you the family you've been appointed to…"

"Imai Hotaru, you're appointed to Satoshi Horio. Tobita Yuu, to Ryuzaki Sakuno. Yome Kokoro, to Osakada Tomoka," Jinno reads on, secretly sighing for talking so long. "Nogi Ruka, to Kato Kachiro. Natsume Hyuuga, Mizuno Katsuo. Last, but not the least, Sakura Mikan, you're appointed to Echizen Ryoma. So, by tomorrow, pack the things that you need, clothes and all, as a bus will drive you to Seigaku High by 7:30 in the morning. During the six month's stay, you are NOT allowed to come back to Alice Academy. You'll also wear the uniform Seigaku High uses as to avoid confusion. Choose your clubs wisely. That is all." Then, with a tired sigh, Jinno leaves the classroom.

Natsume lowers his manga and raises an eyebrow hearing that polka-dots was appointed to a _Boy's _Home. What the hell – A BOY?! Being the cheerful and lively Sakura Mikan she is, the possibility of having a competition is… high.

Ruka also frowns at this but keeps his thoughts to himself, patting the bunny for the 50th time that day. Like Natsume, he disapproves the idea of Mikan to be appointed to a boy's home. Having two people fight for her is enough… another one would be too crowded and would reduce the chances of having the girl he has laid his eyes on.

"Ryoma Echizen, huh?" the two best friends overhears once again Mikan Sakura say with wonder. "I wonder if he's nice."

_Like hell I'll give up without a fight, _Natsume and Ruka thinks to themselves, their resolve decided.

_Dear Grandpa,_

_I've been chosen as one of the six students to participate in a Student Visit Program! Even though I'll be apart from Hotaru by dismissal, I think I'm going to have another adventure! I'll also be staying in the home of this "Echizen Ryoma" guy! Pray that he's nice, Grandpa!_

_Mikan_

* * *

___To Be Continued…_

_**So, what do you think? Next chapter, the introduction of the Seigaku guys will come in… If you like it, please REVIEW. I need INSPIRATION to continue writing this story! **_

_**Please REVIEW… with howalons on top? )**_

_**emeraldfaye**_


	2. Seigaku High! Here We Come!

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Chapter 2: Seigaku high! Here We Come!**

Monday has passed and Tuesday morning has come. The morning sun rises above the horizon as the twinkling stars in the sky fades away and gives in to the blue sky filled with fluffy clouds of different shapes. The birds chirp and fly high, signaling it will be a sunny day today.

"Good morning everybody!" Mikan greets loudly once again with a bright smile, running towards her friends who are waiting for the bus at the gate, a rather large backpack behind her. The others turn to her with a smile and greet her back, except for Natsume. "Good thing I'm not late!"

"If you were late no one would bother going back to pick you up," Hotaru emotionlessly comments, turning to her tired best friend. "Be grateful my Baka Gun is in my bag, so I don't have to use it on you this time."

Mikan puts down her backpack and stares at the purple-eyed Nanotechnology Alice user with confused eyes. "Are? Where is your bag, Hotaru?" Mikan looks around her. Everyone has their own bag except for Hotaru. "I don't see you having a bag!"

"What, did you think I'm stupid enough to bring all my inventions and things I need on my fragile shoulders?" Hotaru asks flatly, pulling out a small ball from her pockets. She pushes a button and the ball immediately transforms to a super big backpack.

"This is Invention #158: Backpack Deluxe. It's a backpack that can carry mountains of things, from clothes to a car or even your own house," Hotaru narrates blankly, ignoring the awes and amazement of her fellow classmate. "If you press a red button here, it will turn to a ball and will be as light as a feather. You can travel anywhere without worry of your belongings. You can order for 3000 Rabbits."

"H-Hotaru-chan…" Yuu sweat drops, laughing awkwardly. "T-that's a bit too much…"

Ruka chuckles and pets his bunny. "Imai sure has some weird inventions, ne, Natsume?"

Natsume shrugs and sits down on the grass, putting out another volume of manga from his backpack. He starts to read when Mikan sits beside him.

"Hey, Natsume, what did you bring?" Mikan asks him innocently with a small smile. "Did you bring manga? I brought two howalons so that I can share it with my new friends!"

"Oi, polka-dots, will you stop bothering me already?" Natsume snaps back without looking away from his manga. "Don't you know it's rude to bother someone when they're busily doing something else? Are you really an idiot or what?"

An angry vein then appears in Mikan's head as she clenches her fist. She stands up and puts out her tongue, saying, "Natsume no baka! I really am an idiot for asking you! And my name isn't polka-dots! It's MI-KAN! It has two syllables! HMP!" then she marches away, pouting. _Why is he such a jerk? He's been like that since we were 10! _Mikan thinks to herself with an angry frown.

_**Beep! Beep! Beep!**_

"Everyone, the bus is here!" Koko calls out with his usual smile, getting everyone's attention. The guards open the gate slightly for the Alice users to get out. One by one, they step out, freeing themselves from the territory of Alice Academy.

Yuu, as the class representative, guides each of his classmates towards the bus that was reserved only for them. "Okay, pick your own partners in the bus, everyone!" Yuu calls out as all of them gets in. The driver smiles at them and starts driving towards the road of Tokyo to Seigaku Middle School.

Obviously, Ruka pairs up with Natsume. Being the friendly and gentle person he is, he asks his friend, "Are you okay, Natsume? Are you excited?"

Natsume looks out to the window and sees passing trees. "Not really…" he replies with a bored tone, not really excited to see tall buildings and other landscapes. "I don't really think this program will help in our social skills… I never really wanted to participate, anyway…"

Ruka smiles and looks up. "But you still participated, right? And that's because you were afraid that something will develop while you're not around, right?" he glances to his fire caster friend with his gentle blue eyes. "That's why you didn't protest when Jinno-sensei picked you."

"Tch, whatever," Natsume responds back. Although he would never admit it, Ruka was right. He always liked Mikan, ever since she tried to save him from Reo, from Persona and ever since she showed him her bright smile that can cast away the darkness overwhelming his heart. To be away from her for six months would be too much, and while she's in another school, there are endless possibilities of boys falling for her, although she's too dense and too stupid to notice.

_Someone needs to keep an eye on that idiot, _Natsume tells himself, as the bus stops in front of a very big and private school.

Yuu stands up from his seat and walks in front of his classmate. "Everyone, we're finally here in Seigaku High," he announces with a nervous smile. Of course, living in a surrounding that you're not used to would make anyone anxious. "Remember not to use your Alice in public and remember to act as normal as possible. And that includes you Koko, you can read someone else's minds but don't read it out loud! They'll think you're weird!"

Koko smiles and replies happily, "But I can't help it!"

Hotaru stands up and comments, "And besides, even if you don't mention it, he's already weird."

Mikan picks up her backpack cheerfully and exclaims, "Enough chattering already!" She raises her arms high in the air and grins. "Let's go! Let's go! I'm excited to go to Seigaku High!" the bubbly tangerine-named girl jumps off the bus and looks in amazement of the large school in front of her, oblivious to the stares of the Seigaku students towards her.

After a few moments, the group walks around the campus, exploring since there are time left before class begins. After asking for directions a few minutes after exploring, the group enters a certain 1st Year/Class B classroom. The teacher notices them and smiles.

"Everyone, everyone!" the teacher smiles warmly to his class as Mikan and the group enters. "I'm sure you have heard that there will be six students who will be joining us everyday for the next six months. They are from a super private Academy." The teacher, claimed to be Tsujimoto-sensei, turns to the Alice users and says, "Please introduce yourselves, if you may!"

Yuu steps forward, his free hand adjusting his glasses. "I'm Tobita Yuu. P-Pleased to meet you all."

"Imai Hotaru," Hotaru says blankly, her purple eyes still void of any kind of expression. "If you have any questions about me, please pay 500 yen. Down payment is allowed with 15 percent interest. Thank you."

While the rest of the class sweat drops, Satoshi Horio stares at Hotaru, disappointed, since he's expecting someone more lively. He then asks to himself loudly, "That's Imai Hotaru?! She's the one who's supposed to stay in my house?!"

Hotaru turns to him with her cold amethyst eyes and replies, "Yes, I am Imai Hotaru. And yes, I think am the one who is supposed to stay in your house. Please pay 1000 Yen before the day ends, as you have purchased two questions. Thank you."

Horio stands up in disbelief and starts to protest, "WHAT?! W-wait! I NEED to PAY?! And a thousand yen?! For WHAT?! Those questions weren't directed to you!" he pauses and says to himself, "Wait… they were directed to you… B-B-BUT!"

"Oh, shut it, Horio!" a girl with hazel eyes and brown hair in pigtails exclaims loudly, smacking her classmate in the head with a book. "Just pay her! You and your loud mouth!" Then she looks up and smiles happily. "Anyway, among you, who's Yome Kokoro?"

Koko, with his trademark freaky smile, raises his hand. "I'm Yome Kokoro, but please call me Koko! My teacher in my school described me as harmless to mankind!"

The girl backs away disappointed, and thinks, _that's Yome Kokoro? Aw, I was expecting that cute guy in the back with red eyes… He reminds me of Ryoma-sama!_

Unfortunately to the girl, she thought too late. Koko already read her mind.

"That's Yome Kokoro?" he starts with a smile, getting the girl's and the class's attention. "Aw, I was expecting that guy in the back with red eyes. He reminds me of Ryoma-sama!" Then he points the girl with the pigtails and says, "That's what she thought."

The girl backs away with disbelief, not believing that what she thought was just said out loud. She thinks once again, _this guy can read my mind?! T-that's impossible! No such things exist in this world!_

"This guy can read my mind?" Koko starts a second time, freaking out most of his soon-to-be classmates. "That's impossible! No such things exist in this world." He points to the girl again. "That's what she thought!"

Another girl, presumably the girl's best friend, asks with incredulity, "Tomo-chan, did he read your mind?"

Tomoka stiffly turns her head to her friend, Sakuno, and swallows hard. "S-somehow… he did…"

Yuu, worried that the Seigaku students are getting freaked out by Koko's Alice, starts up an excuse, "Uh, you see, Koko here learned a magic trick to read minds by looking at the eyes. He told us it was only 500 yen in the internet! It expires after 24 hours!" Soon, the rest of the class breathes easy. Yuu turns to Koko and whispers worriedly, "Please, don't do that again. Jinno-sensei told us to keep our Alice a secret!"

Koko turns to him and smiles. "I'll try!"

"Good morning!" Mikan then starts, jumping in front of the class. "I'm Sakura Mikan, nice to meet you all! I'm very excited to get to know each one of you. I'm appointed to Echizen Ryoma, so, if any of you here is this guy, let's be friends!"

Tomoka suddenly stands up, shocked, "WHAT? That girl is the one Ryoma-sama's hosting?" she clenches her fist and exclaims, "NO! As the president of the Ryoma-sama fanclub, I will not allow this! Right, Sakuno-chan?"

Sakuno, although not really happy but not angry that Ryoma is hosting a cute and energetic girl, shakes her head and smiles, "Stop it, Tomo-chan. It's already been decided so you can't do anything about it."

Not too far away from their seats is Echizen Ryoma, who's been listening to the introduction of the newcomers. When Mikan suddenly showed up and announced his name, he was quite surprised. Not all introductions turn out that way, so it was pretty unexpected.

_Sakura… what's her name again? _Ryoma thinks to himself, looking out to the window. Well, some things just never change.

"Ano… I'm Nogi Ruka," Ruka starts nervously, patting his bunny _again_ for the 69th time that day, receiving many "awws" from the class. "Uhm, I like animals and I often carry this rabbit with me. U-unlike Imai, anybody can touch it and ask questions without pay."

Hotaru blinks and turns to him with a blank face. "You say something, Nogi?"

Ruka shakes his head and hides behind Natsume, fearful that Hotaru might blackmail him again. "N-nothing…"

Kato Kachiro, a quiet boy who is a part of the class, smiles as he discovers that the person he's going to host with is a nice guy with a gentle personality. _Thank god it's not someone like that freaky guy that can somehow read minds…_

"Hyuuga Natsume," Natsume introduces with a cold tone, but despite of his cold exterior, he already got himself a fan club (With Tomoka as the leader, of course) as the girls have already gotten themselves infatuated to him. "Don't act too close to me or else I'll burn you to a crisp."

"Natsume-kun, no violence!" Yuu whispers worriedly. Sigh. The burdens of being the class representative…

Mizuno Katsuo, a nice slim guy that is Kachiro's friend, sighs as he realizes the guy he's hosting seems to be a cold one. "Mou, you're lucky, Kachiro. You got Nogi-kun… and here I am, going to host a guy who looks like he's about to kill or burn someone or something."

Horio snorts and retorts, "What about me? I get to host a money-grubbing girl who wants money for every damn thing!" He turns to Ryoma and sighs. "The one who's really lucky is Echizen… he gets to have a cute and cheerful girl like Sakura-chan! Grrr, Echizen, you lucky dog!"

"Hai, hai, that's enough everyone!" Tsujimoto-sensei announces with an awkward smile. Somehow, some of the newcomers were students he… well, didn't expected. But, they were interesting in some way. "As you can see, since these new students are in the middle of a Student Visit Program, they will sit with the people that will host them."

_NO WAY! _Horio, Tomoka and Katsuo think in unison, not believing that they have to sit with a money-grubber, a mind-reader, and a guy who looked like he already killed thousands!

And so, Yuu gets to seat with the friendly Ryuzaki Sakuno. The immediately became friends without delay.

And Ruka gets to sit with the timid but also friendly Kato Kachiro. Somehow, the bunny in Ruka's arms liked his new seatmate, so they became friends.

As for Koko's side…

"Why oh why does this guy have to sit with me?" Koko states with his usual trademark smile as he sits with Tomoko, reading her mind at the same time. "I wouldn't mind if it's Nogi-kun or Natsume-sama, even that money-grubber Imai, but why this mind-reading freak? Oh Kami-sama, are you really this unfair? What have I done to deserve this?"

Tomoko covers her ears and cries out loud, "NOOOO!! STOP READING MY MIND!!!"

As for Hotaru…

"N-Ne, Imai-san…" Horio starts with a nervous smile. "How about I teach you tennis since I have 2 years experience with that sport as payment?"

Hotaru puts out a notebook and starts writing something, but replies, "No, thank you. And that's another 500 yen to your debt as you have purchased another question. Please pay by the end of the day, thank you."

Horio widens his eyes in disbelief _again_ and asks angrily, "AGAIN?"

Hotaru looks at him with her purple eyes and nods with an evil smile, "Yes, and that's another 500 yen as you have purchased yet another question. Down payment, as I have said, is available with 15 percent interest each time. Credit card is allowed. Thank you and please ask again anytime."

Horio, knowing that there is nothing he can do to convince his new money-grubbing "friend", sighs and thinks, _I wonder if Momo-chan can lend me some money…_

As for Natsume…

"H-hello," Katsuo starts with a scared smile as the fire-caster sits beside him without saying anything. "I-I'm Mizuno Katsuo. I-I'm the o-one who's supposed to host you. If y-you have any q-questions, please a-approach me."

"…"

"R-right," Katsuo smiles awkwardly and then looks away, his sweat starting to fall. _He's so scary!!!!! _ He thinks to himself.

As for Mikan's situation…

"Hi!"

Echizen Ryoma looks up and finds himself staring at the chocolate eyes of 13 years old Sakura Mikan. Mikan extends her hands and smiles warmly at him. Ryoma looks at her hand and slowly shakes it with his own.

"You're Ryoma-kun, right?" Mikan asks, sitting down next to him, putting her rather large backpack below her chair. "I'm sorry for saying your name earlier!"

Ryoma looks down and starts writing notes, "Hm, it's nothing. I don't mind."

Mikan stares at him and smiles, and then starts writing notes as well…

_Dear Grandpa,_

_I've finally arrived here in Seigaku High! I've also met Echizen Ryoma! He doesn't talk much but I think he's a nice guy! Well, much nicer than Natsume, who keeps calling me "polka-dots"! Do I look like some polka-dotted panty, Grandpa?_

_Mikan._

* * *

**To be Continued…**

**PHEW! That was long!!! I tried to count the words (well, of course, not literally) and it resulted to more than 2,500 words! I'm sorry if the chapter was too boring!!!**

**Anyway, please REVIEW! Like I said, I need INSPIRATION to keep me going… it's a sign of appreciation, you know! Criticisms are considered, but flames are a no-no. **

**To all those who reviewed last chapter, ARIGATO!**

**Phoenix-Swordsman, formerly emeraldfaye**


	3. An Unnecessary Food Fight!

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

_I realized that during the first two chapters, I forgot to put a disclaimer. So, from this moment on, I'll put a disclaimer._

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. All Rights Reserved to them. Thank you.

**Chapter 3: An Unnecessary Food Fight**

The morning passed by quite fast. The Alice-users were slowly getting used to the new facilities around them, and each of them was getting accustomed to their hosts and new classmates, forming new circle of friends that are actually normal and have no kind of Alice ability. Well, not really all of them were getting accustomed…

It was already lunchtime, and the Alice users decided to eat by the roof where it's usually the least crowded. Since it is the host's duty to show their guests around, Horio, together with Sakuno, Tomoka, Katsuo, Kachiro and Ryoma were forced to go with Mikan and the others. Well, they found the new group interesting, so, they really weren't forced since they were curious.

"Hey, what and where is this super private academy you're going?" Horio asks nosily as they enter the roof. "Is it filled with weird people like that mind-reader guy? Or filled with nice people like Mikan-chan, Tobita-kun and Nogi-kun?" then he whispers, "Or filled with money-greedy people like Imai-san…?"

Unlucky for him, Hotaru has sharp ears. As if it was an automatic reflex, Hotaru pulls out a Baka Gun from out of nowhere, surprising and confusing the other Seigaku students, and starts to pull the trigger towards the poor and oblivious Horio.

_**Baka! Baka! Baka!**_

"WAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" Horio cries with a scared voice, feeling invincible air punches all over his body, sending him to fly a few meters forward. Luckily, he came out alive. "W-w-w-what the hell is that thing?! Is that even legal?! O-o-ouch!!"

"Don't worry," Hotaru replies back blankly, sitting down in one corner, hiding her Baka Gun from eyes' reach. "It has been approved by the Government. It's a Baka Gun that gives out powerful Air Punches to Idiotic people. Power depends on the target's stupidity."

_Approved by the Government?! _Horio, Tomoka, Sakuno, Katsuo and Kachiro think to themselves, backing away in disbelief. _A dangerous weapon approved by the Government and a thirteen years old girl is freely using it!_ _**Who are these people?!**_

Ryoma smirks at this and sits down, thinking, _Interesting._ He pulls out his Bento (A/n: A Japanese lunchbox, like what you see in animes) and starts eating quietly, oblivious of a certain Ruby-eyed Alice user eyeing him from not afar.

Yuu, very worried about Hotaru's recklessness of hitting people with her inventions, helps Horio stand up from his fall. He restlessly tells the Nanotechnology Alice user, "Mou, Hotaru-chan, don't you think you're a going a bit too far? To actually use your invention on these innocent people…"

_Invention? _Sakuno thinks to herself, amazed that the emotionless Imai Hotaru was able to invent something… unique. _These new people… who are they really? They seem to be more than what we see them, although they appear to be normal…_

Hotaru looks up and stares at Yuu, "What are you talking about, Tobita?" she asks with a blank look, her purple eyes not blinking. "I've been shooting my Baka Gun for 3 years straight on Mikan everyday and she appears to be normal. Not once did she go to the hospital, you know. And that Horio guy just experienced it once."

Hearing that statement, all eyes turns to the happy and not listening Sakura Mikan, who is busy eating her Howalons together with Koko. When she feels like she's being watched, the auburn-haired girl looks up and stares at the colorful eyes that are on her.

"Hmm? Nani, nani (What, what)?" Mikan asks happily, a small portion of a fluffy howalon stuck on the tip of her small and delicate nose, making her look like a small and innocent child eating an ice cream. She hands out her howalons and asks with a cheerful voice, "What, you want some howalons, too? You all can have some!"

"U-unbelievable…" Katsuo mumbles as he stares at the too-energetic Sakura Mikan, his jaw dropping. "To be shot by the… Baka Gun or whatever that's called – everyday for 3 years straight must be hard on her… I mean, did you see the impact Horio got?! That was crazy!"

Kachiro stiffly nods and starts to get scared on the mysterious Imai Hotaru, who seems to be beyond description. "I-I would r-rather not p-provoke her in the future…" he nervously whispers, sitting on a spot that was rather far from the cold amethyst-eyed beauty. "I don't want to e-end up f-flying anywhere soon…"

Horio, with a swollen cheek, agrees, "It was so painful!" the loud and outspoken Seigaku student cries, rubbing his red and swollen cheek with his hand. "That Imai is abnormal, I tell you! To demand money and shoot me with a weird gun suddenly… ouch! It hurts!"

"Hmp, you deserve it, moron!" Tomoka laughs, sticking out her tongue. Then she sits beside Horio and says in monotone, "You know what? I asked sensei earlier about these people. He has no idea about them, like their backgrounds or what school they came from. The only person who knows who they really are is the Principal. We should be cautious."

"So," Ryoma starts, putting down his chopsticks. "The only way to know is to ask them directly, right?"

"Ryoma-sama…" Tomoko mumbles, staring at the proclaimed "Child Prodigy" of the world of Tennis. She gives out a bright grin and nods, "Yup! So, let's ask them later!" Then she turns to Mikan who's handing out howalons to Ruka and Yuu and exclaims, "Mikan-chan! Can we also have some of your cotton candy?"

Mikan walks to her, confused. "Cotton Candy?" she asks with a puzzled look. She looks down to her fluffy Howalons and tilts her head slightly, "You mean these Howalons?"

Tomoka sweat drops and thinks secretly, _Maybe that's the term they use for Cotton Candy in their school… _"Uh, yeah! We're really curious what those 'Howalons' tastes like! Since you like it so much, I guess it would be pretty delicious!"

Mikan grins wide and sits down beside them. She would gladly let her new friends taste the deliciousness of her beloved Howalons! That was why she brought two of them in the first place, to share her happiness to other people when eating her most favorite snack food in the whole wide world. Well, that's the pure and naive Mikan for you.

"Here, Tomoka-chan," Mikan gives one to the hazel-eyed girl. Tomoka smiles at her and puts the food in front of her mouth.

"Arigato! Well, Itadakimasu!" Tomoka chirps, opening her mouth. She puts the Howalon in and lets it melt into her tongue. A few moments later, she looks up with stars in her eyes, "SO DELICIOUS!!! It's the best Cotton Candy in the whole wide world! So dangerously sweet… when it melts into your mouth, you could still savor the lasting sugary taste…"

"EH?" Sakuno smiles, her eyes showing amazement at Tomoka's reaction after eating Mikan's food. To have a reaction like that, it must taste extraordinarily good! "Can I have some, too, Mikan-chan?"

"Of course!" Mikan laughs happily, giving some to Sakuno. Sakuno eats it and closes her eyes. "So, what do you think, Sakuno-chan?"

Sakuno opens her eyes to reveal twinkling stars. She exclaims happily with her gentle and soft voice, "It really is delicious! Tomo-chan wasn't kidding!"

"REALLY?" Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro cry out at the same time, their lips filled with drool already. Seeing the unusual reactions of the girls who looked like they already seen heaven, they were tempted to try out the Howalons Mikan was carrying.

_I-I want to try some, too… _the three boys think at the same time, swallowing hard at the mere sight of the tasty, pink, and fluffy howalons. Mikan notices their growing attraction to her beloved Howalons and smiles cutely, probably thinking to give the boys some.

"Here, have some," Mikan smiles brightly at them, being her generous and caring self. She hands out her box of Howalons and nods at them to get one. The nullification Alice user was really happy that her new classmates like her Howalons very much.

"DELICIOUS!" the three boys cry out together with a large smile, loving every second their tongue taste the sweetened taste of the melting Howalon. "IT'S THE BEST! I NEVER HAD ANYTHING THIS GOOD BEFORE!"

Ryoma watches his classmates talk excitedly about the Howalons with his intense hazel eyes without saying a word, wondering what's so good about a mere cotton candy the new girl brought that it would actually push them to cry out loud with stars in their eyes. Well, not that he care anyway… cotton candies are for kids, and he definitely wasn't a kid anymore.

"Instead of watching them quietly, why don't you try some, too?" a familiar voice calls out to him, getting his attention. He turns his head and stares, for the second time that day, at two warm chocolate orbs owned by the cheerful Sakura Mikan. "Here, have one!" Mikan smiles as she hands him a portion of her snack.

Ryoma quietly just looks at Mikan's hand. He stares at her eyes again without saying a word. Mikan stares right back at him and smiles, urging him to have some. Ryoma smirks and reaches his hand to get it, but stops when he feels another hand firmly grip his arm.

The Tennis prodigy looks up and stares at the blazing red eyes of Hyuuga Natsume, whose intentions are secretly carved in his ruby orbs. Ryoma looks down and smirks at this, as if trying to mock the 13 year old Alice user. Natsume sees this and tightens his grips in Ryoma's arm, as if stopping him from trying to get nice with Mikan, not caring if he's hurting the Seigaku student or not with his rigid grasp.

"N-Natsume!" Ruka exclaims, running towards his angry best friend. He rarely gets to see Natsume this heated… or _jealous_ before. To actually get this serious with Echizen Ryoma when he wasn't even literally interacting with Mikan means that this guy is dangerous… and that a threesome competition is already on its way. And for Natsume to get this mad means that there is a high possibility of him exposing his Fire Alice.

"Hmm…" Hotaru smiles as she pulls out a camera from out of nowhere, trying to picture the two soon-to-be rivals. "This will be interesting."

"N-Natsume-kun! What are you doing?" Mikan exclaims angrily, standing up, trying to pull the self-proclaimed 'Black Cat's' hand. "You're hurting him! Stop it!"

"Shut it, polka-dots!" Natsume snaps at her, pushing Mikan away with his free hand, making her lose her balance; thus, making her fall down. But, fortunately, Ruka was beside the pigtailed girl all that while and was able to catch her before she landed on her butt against the hard concrete floor.

Mikan looks at Natsume with confused and concerned eyes as Ruka holds on to her tightly, as she seems to have lost the strength to stand on her two feet. "Natsume… what…"

"H-hey, what's going on?" Horio starts to stammer, confused as to why Natsume was glaring at Ryoma with such a cold face and why the sudden cheerful atmosphere changed to an awkward and dangerous one. "H-hey, Hyuuga, I know you look cruel, but you really don't need to act like one, you know…"

Katsuo turns to him and signals him to be quiet. "D-don't try to irritate him if you still want to be alive, Horio!" Katsuo whispers in a nervous tone, his palms already sweating. "I have a bad feeling that he's really mad at something…"

Sakuno turns to Katsuo and asks frantically, "W-what is it? What made him so mad that he actually tried to hurt Ryoma-kun?"

Yuu cups his face fretfully as he notices Natsume's mood made a 180 degree turn to the dangerous zone. "Oh dear, this is getting really bad, really bad… and it's just the first day!" He takes a step forward and speaks, "Please, stop it, Natsume-kun! Jinno-sensei told us not to make any kind of violence! Please, snap out of it!" but despite what the class representative say, Natsume continuously glare at the smirking Ryoma.

"I'm currently reading his mind," Koko suddenly blurts out with his freaky smile. "And now I wish I didn't."

"W-what…? What is it, Koko-kun?" Yuu hopefully turns to his mind-reader classmate. "Please tell us what he's thinking?"

Koko turns to the Class Representative and gives out a surprisingly hesitant smile, asking softly, "Are you sure… class representative? I… don't really think it's a good idea."

Yuu shakes his head and explains, "We need to know what's on his mind, Koko!" His golden eyes glance to Natsume and swallows hard at the frightening sight that's happening in front of him. "I know I'm having a death wish, but we need to know what's on his mind. We need to know what makes him so angry so we can solve this problem as soon as possible to avoid any kind of fatalities!"

"Okay," Koko replies. "-Beep-! What a -Beep- this -Beep- is! What is this -Beep- thinking, trying to get all -Beep- to -Beep-! -Beep--Beep--Beep-! I'm going to -Beep- this -Beep- right now and teach him a -Beep- -Beep- he'll never -Beep- forget! -Beep--Beep--Beep-!"

"Oh my virgin ears," Tomoko sighs as she faints and falls in Kachiro's lap, making the first year surprised.

After hearing the indecent thoughts of Natsume in Koko's mouth, Yuu freezes as his glasses slowly falls off without him realizing it. For Natsume to swear secretly that much, Natsume is really_, really__**, REALLY **_mad. And if Yuu doesn't do anything to control it, his role as the class representative is in dangerous turmoil, with little chance of recovering.

"You…bastard…" Natsume mutters angrily, lowering his face as to avoid the people see the rage in his eyes. "I won't forgi –"

"Nahorodo (A/n: It's kind of: "Oh, I see" or, "So, that's it")," Ryoma interrupts, looking up with a smirk without flinching. "It seems that my intentions were misunderstood as acts of stealing something… or is it someone?" He looks down and smirks again. "Mada Mada Dane."

"What did you say…" Natsume mutter in a dangerous tone, alerting Ruka and Mikan as it looked like Natsume is ready to burn Ryoma in any second now. But before he could make any actions, Mikan broke free from Ruka's grasp and pushes Natsume off Ryoma, thus, secretly nullifying Natsume's Alice in the process. Natsume falls to the floor with Mikan on his chest.

Ryoma turns to Mikan with a slight surprised face, not expecting that the bright girl would actually jump out and push his attacker off him. He calculated that the girl would be too scared to step in the battle zone, but she proved him wrong. _This "Mikan" is very unpredictable_, Ryoma thinks to himself.

"Natsume no baka, Natsume no baka!" Mikan screams with tears in her eyes, making the Fire Alice-user speechless. "I can't believe you did that to Ryoma-kun! You're such a jerk! Think before you act!" Mikan then gets up and runs to Ryoma. "Ryoma-kun, we should get you to the clinic! I'll accompany you!"

Ryoma looks down and stands up, his left hand touching his right arm where Natsume grabbed him. "No," he says softly, looking up. "That was nothing. It didn't even hurt one bit." He glances to Natsume who was glaring at him and then mockingly smirks at him. "I thought his grip was pretty weak, actually."

"Tch!" Natsume looks away. "Whatever."

Ryoma picks up his empty lunchbox and starts to walk away towards the exit, leaving everybody else behind him. "I'll be going ahead," he says, waving one hand.

Mikan stares at Ryoma's retreating back, obviously concerned for her newly found quiet friend. "Ryoma-kun…"

_Dear Grandpa,_

_Something terrible happened today. All of a sudden, Natsume tried to hurt Ryoma-kun when Ryoma-kun didn't even do anything to him! What's happening, Grandpa? Why is Natsume acting this way? I'm so confused!_

_Mikan_

* * *

_**To be continued…**_

_Oh dear… I think I made another LONG chapter. Please, please, PLEASE forgive me if this chapter just bored you to death. As you can see, it's my first Gakuen Alice and Prince of Tennis fan fiction, so, they may be a little Out of Character. But, this IS Fan fiction. That means I can write anything in my will based on my imagination._

_To those who reviewed last chapter, thank you very much! I would gladly reply to each and every one of you, but unfortunately, I want to save a few space since it's about to pass 3000 words. I'll try to put your suggestions in consideration, but I don't know if I will use them. It depends on how the story will turn out. sweat drops_

_Well, like I said, PLEASE __**REVIEW**__. It is a sign of appreciation for my hard work. I made this chapter 12:30 in the morning until 3:00 A.M. Criticisms are allowed, but flames are a no-no. _

_PLEASE __**REVIEW**_

_Phoenix-Swordsman_


	4. The Inui Juice Challenge!

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. All Rights Reserved to them. Thank you.

**NOTE: Please read the Author's Note below after reading. Thank you.**

**Chapter 4: The Inui Juice Challenge!**

After lunch break, everything went by smoothly. Mikan apologized to Ryoma on behalf of Natsume for what happened earlier that lunch, to which Ryoma just brushed off as nothing. Following that was the afternoon classes and everyone who witnessed the terrible event just acted as if it didn't happen. Maybe it's better that way.

Soon, it was dismissal, and the Alice students were left alone in the classroom, since everybody already went to their respective clubs, and the Alice-users don't have a single clue what and how they can join. Their hosts didn't even bother helping them, which was irritating.

Then, Tsujimoto-sensei enters the classroom and is surprised to see the newcomers all by themselves alone. "Are? Why are you here, dear students?" he asks with a smile as he sits down on the Teacher's Seat. "Why aren't you in your clubs?"

Ruka looks up and stares at their new friendly teacher. He makes a small smile and asks, "But…what is a club, sensei?"

Tsujimoto looks at them surprised again. "What, you don't know what 'club' means? Don't you have any clubs in your school?" he stares at Yuu for an answer and the four-eyed Alice user just shrugs. Tsujimoto puts a hand on his chin, deep in thought. Then he looks up and smiles, "Okay, I'll explain to you what a club means."

"A club is a kind of a small group composed of students here in school that does after-school activities," the kind-hearted teacher explains with a big smile. "They meet after school to study, to have pleasure, or to practice games or sports. If you join a basketball club, you'll play basketball. If you choose the newspaper club, you'll write stories and articles after school that will be published in a monthly school paper."

Natsume rolls his eyes and looks away. He puts out a manga and starts reading, ignoring the amazement of his Alice friends. _Any club is fine as long I don't get to see that Echizen Ryoma guy… _he thinks to himself angrily, remembering the incident earlier that noon. _That arrogant jerk… he makes me so irritated._

"Come to think of it," Tsujimoto starts again, rubbing his chin with a hand. "I think all of your hosts are in the same club… the Tennis Club, I think." Then he smiles, as if saying he just thought of a great idea. "I got it! Why don't you all join the Tennis Club? That way, you can get along with your hosts better!"

Mikan smiles and stands up. She turns to the others and nods, "Yeah, yeah! That way we can be with Horio, Sakuno-chan, Tomoka-chan, Katsuo, Kachiro, and Ryoma-kun!" then she turns around and runs to the door with her backpack behind her. "Thank you, Tsujimoto-sensei!"

Relieved by her cheerfulness, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru follow her, while Ruka and Natsume walk behind with a very much serious face.

"You think we should join, Natsume?" Ruka asks his moody best friend, who is _very_ unhappy of the sudden decision to join the Tennis Club where _that _guy is supposedly playing there. "You'll have to face Echizen Ryoma again."

Natsume glowers and starts to walk faster, replying, "Tch. It's better than letting him alone with polka-dots." He glances to his blonde best friend and mutters, "Let's go, Ruka. We better make sure nothing happens."

Ruka looks down to his bunny and then nods. "Okay."

**A few minutes later… at the Tennis Court…**

Tomoka, Sakuno, Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro were watching the Regulars practice on the Tennis Court when they heard a familiar voice calling them from afar. They turn around and are surprised to see Mikan and the group approaching them.

"Mikan-chan!" Sakuno and Tomoka exclaim with a big smile, happy to see their newly found friend. The two girls, during the day, were able to grow fond of Mikan because of her friendly and warm nature and cheerful personality. Mikan's innocence just attracted them to her… and maybe not just them but others, too.

Yuu, Koko, Hotaru, Ruka and Natsume shows up after a while. Yuu smiles and adjusts his glasses. "Well, we were thinking of joining the Tennis Club," the class representative starts. "Tsujimoto-sensei recommended it since all of you are in the Tennis Club, anyway."

Horio, with his usual green shirt, walks up smirking, "Fufufufu…" he laughs silently, confusing the others. He looks up and makes a thumb up sign. "That was a very good decision, Tobita-san! With my 2 years tennis experience, I would gladly teach you –"

But before Horio could continue his useless "2 years experience" speech, Tomoka bonks his head with her fist and angrily exclaims, "Oh shut up, Horio! What do you know, anyway!" then she turns to the puzzles group and explains, "Oh, forgive this idiot. He's all talk but he really doesn't know anything! He doesn't even play!"

"I can see that," Hotaru emotionlessly says. She turns to Horio and adds, "Don't forget you still owe me 2000 yen, idiot."

Horio looks up and stares at the cold amethyst eyes of Imai Hotaru, his money-greedy nightmare. Why the hell would he pay this girl 2000 yen when he just asked four measly questions?! But, Horio knew better than to argue with this mysterious newcomer or else he would be fated to meet the "Baka Gun" one more time… which he doesn't want to happen.

"Oi, guys!" another familiar voice calls out to the first year juniors. The group turns around to see a tall guy with black spiky hair wearing a Seigaku Regular Uniform running towards them with a smile. "What's up?"

"Momo-chan-sempai!" Katsuo and Kachiro say together as the friendly Seigaku tennis player nears them.

"Hey!" Momo smiles. Then, he looks around with his violet eyes as he notices the group of five turned to a group of eleven, counting Mikan and the others. He stares at the new group, puzzled, and asks, "Wait a minute… why is it that… suddenly, your group turned bigger? Who are these cute newcomers?"

"Ah, they're the student visitors," Kachiro starts, looking at Ruka's kind blue eyes. "We're the ones hosting them, adding Ryoma-kun."

Momo nods in understanding with his usual friendly smile. He turns to the new group and smiles at them, "Oh, I see! Hi there! I'm Takeshi Momoshiro, but please call me Momo-chan! I'm a 2nd year, but don't call me 'sempai', okay? Are you thinking of joining the Tennis Club?"

The group nods, except for Natsume who appears to be very uninterested. Why would he join a stupid Tennis Club when that annoying Ryoma guy is in there? But it makes him so irritated to know that Mikan is going to join the same club he's in… and that leaves him no choice but to join also. Well, it's not as if he doesn't have any Tennis experience…

"Okay, I'll tell the captain that you little cute kids wanna join the club, so, wait here, okay?" Momo smiles at Mikan and the others. A few minutes later, Tezuka, Inui, Oishi and Fuji appear before the Alice Users, while the other Regulars are busy practicing. The others are really not needed, since only the four 3rd years have the power to let anyone join that pass their expectations.

"Aw, these kids want to join? How cute," Fuji comments with his natural warm smile, his eyes appearing closed as usual. He crosses his arms and then asks the quiet captain Tezuka, "What do you think, Tezuka? Give them a chance? Maybe they'll be as good as Ryoma-kun over there."

_So that Ryoma is good in Tennis, huh… _Natsume thinks to himself with a scowl. _Hmp._

"Wait, wait…" Inui, who has black hair and box-shaped glasses that frames his dark-green eyes, interrupts, stepping forward. Then, he turns around and starts to rummage his bag for something. "We should give them a challenge first before we agree to them joining the club…"

"Challenge?" Oishi repeats with a confused face. Then, his facade makes a shocked look as he finally realizes what Inui was planning. He backs away in disgust and surprise as he mutters, "Inui… don't tell me you're…!"

Inui turns around again and faces the Alice users with an evil smile, his hands carrying a large bottle with a brown and sticky liquid inside it. "Yes, that's right… the "Penal Tea" challenge!" he states, laughing silently to himself. Fuji turns to him and smiles, as if agreeing to the challenge… well; we can't really blame Fuji since he's the only one who enjoys "Inui's Juice".

Mikan stares at the juice and makes a face, "Yuck. What's in there? It's all brown and… sticky… and weird… and disgusting!"

Yuu swallows hard as he nervously glances to the evil-like sempai, who seems to be enjoying torturing them. "W-we're not going to d-drink that weird liquid…" Yuu asks, stammering. "Are we…?

"You will… if you don't get my challenge right," Inui grins, his glasses beaming under the afternoon sunlight. Ruka swallows hard as he gets a tingling feeling that this will be one hell of a challenge. "This is my strengthened 'Inui Special Super Sonic Remix Juice'. Stare at it for a few moments and tell me what the ingredients I used. You have 30 seconds to answer. If you don't get it right, you'll lose and each of you will have to drink this as punishment."

Oishi sighs and shakes his head, whispering softly, "What does this have to do with Tennis, Inui?"

Natsume, feeling confident, smirks and steps forward, his hands on his pockets. He stares at the tall sempai with his ruby eyes and remarks, "And if we win, you'll drink your own juice and ALL of us WILL join. Got it, _sempai_?"

Inui stares back at the unfamiliar kid who looks so cocky and conceited and then smirks back, thinking to himself, _Ha! As if you'll win… you'll never know the ingredients I used for this Special Inui Juice! _"Sure, I'll drink my own invention… that is, IF you win…" Inui answers.

Mikan turns to Natsume and then starts to panic. "N-Natsume, what are you thinking! We can't win against them!" the pigtailed girl exclaims, getting nervous. Of course, she wants to join the Tennis Club, but drinking that… ugh, disgusting and sticky brown liquid is almost as having a death wish. "How can we ever know what ingredients he used?"

Natsume turns to Mikan and snaps at her, "Zip the lecture later, polka-dots." He turns around and signals the group together for a short meeting. "C'mere everyone, I have a plan…" Soon, the six Alice-users walk away a little farther and start whispering to each other, to the curiosity of the four Seigaku regulars.

"I wonder what they're whispering about." Fuji wonders out loud with his trademark smile. _That ruby-eyed boy… he looks very interesting… to actually challenge a sempai like that… he has guts…_

Meanwhile, to the "Plan"…

"Okay, we are at an advantage of this challenge…" Natsume starts with a bored tone, keeping his voice low. "What they don't know about us is that we have our own Alice… we have a trump card on winning this challenge." The others give him a confused look of what he is talking about, especially Mikan. "Baka, are you forgetting we have a mind-reader here?"

"Me?" Koko asks with his trademark freaky smile, pointing at himself.

Yuu adjusts his glasses once again and smiles knowingly. Natsume was right; they do have a trump card. Because they don't know that they have Alices, especially a mind-reading Alice, there's a high possibility of that "Inui" guy memorizing the ingredients in his thoughts. And Koko's the kind of mind-reader who would speak out loud the thoughts of others that he have read.

Mikan nods and remarks, "Of course! Why haven't I thought of it before?"

"Thinking requires a brain, idiot," Hotaru responds with her usual cold tone. "You don't even have one."

"Mou, you're so mean, Hotaru!" Mikan pouts, crossing her arms. "Anyway, let's go and take that challenge!"

And so…

"Are you ready to take the challenge?" Inui asks, raising a pitcher of his 'Inui Special Super Sonic Remix Juice' in eye level, his glasses beaming. Natsume, together with Koko (with his usual freaky smile), walks forward confidently and nods right back at Inui, as confident as ever.

"D-Do you think they'll be okay?" Kachiro asks to his friends quietly, secretly pitying the newcomers as he knows there will be no more hope for them. On their first day at Seigaku, they have to experience the terrifying-ness of Inui's Juice. "Poor them…"

"W-what are you talking about, Kachiro?" Katsuo protests, trying hard to believe in their new friends, but failed miserably… Inui's Juice is so beyond description they can't even imagine what kind of ingredients he puts in there. "B-but I think they'll be okay… looking at Natsume-kun, he seems to be very c-confident…"

"Oi, minna (everyone)! What's the commotion there?" Eiji calls out with a smile as he walks nearer to the first years. He turns to where they're staring and sees Inui with his horrible juice challenging the newcomers Momo was talking about. "Are?! Aren't they the newcomers that want to join the Tennis Club?"

_Newcomers…? _Ryoma thinks to himself as he hears Eiji's voice not too faraway. He walks toward his comrade and was surprised to see Mikan and company, especially that _Hyuuga Natsume_. _Oh? So they want to join the Tennis Club, huh? Interesting._

"So, what's happening?" Eiji asks, confused as to why Inui is showing his Juice to the Student Visitors.

"Well, since those new guys want to join the club, Inui asked them to do a special challenge first," Horio answers, sighing and shaking his head, as if knowing what will happen next. "He told them that if they can guess what ingredients he used for the juice, they'll win and join. But if they lose, they need to drink it. BUT! If they win, Inui needs to drink his own juice!"

"Oh really?" Eiji smiles, amused. Inui, drinking his own terrible special juice… oh, what a sight to behold! For Inui to actually drink his own horrible medicine… that would be a bestseller! Too bad he didn't bring his camera. Eiji then grins and cheers, "OI! NEWCOMERS! GO AND WIN, A'IGHT?! TEACH THAT INUI WHAT IT MEANS TO DRINK HIS OWN SPECIAL JUICE!"

Inui glares at Eiji at the corners of his eyes and mutters, "Traitor." But then, why would he worry? They'll never guess the ingredients! They're a thousand years too early to know his recipe! "Your 30 seconds start now."

Natsume rolls his eyes and pats Koko's shoulders. "I'll leave the rest to you." Natsume then walks out and sits on the bench, relaxed, making Inui dumbfounded and confused.

"Wait a minute… isn't he…" Sakuno starts, recognizing the certain fellow who's burdened with the challenge. "… The mind-reader guy?"

"NO WAY!" Tomoka exclaims, surprised. Then, she smiles and turns to Sakuno with a hopeful look, knowing that Mikan and the others have a chance.

And then…

"Ah…" Koko starts with a freaky smile, pointing his finger to the 'Inui Juice'. "AH! The ingredients are –beep-, -beep-, -beep-! Then you'll add a little –beep-, and then a teaspoon of –beep-, and a can of –beep-. Plus some –beep-, -beep-, -beep-, -beep-! Of course, let us not forget the dead –beep- that I found squashed on the streets yesterday!" Then he points to Inui. "That's what you thought… Did I guess the ingredients right?"

Inui looks at the innocent Koko with widened eyes, his heart beating wildly against his chest. _What the hell… how did he know?! _He thinks to himself, his hands shaking terribly. He stares at the weird child again with his freaky smile, and all around him were silence.

Oishi and Fuji looks at the "Data Tennis Player" with surprised looks, very aghast to know the "secret" ingredients Inui made for his special juice. Ryoma and Eiji dropped their rackets out of surprise, their imaginations running wild of the ingredients that were in their stomachs once… no, twice… no, thrice… no, MORE than that! Kaidoh and Momo suddenly turn green and start to run to the bathroom. Kawamura then faints. The others stopped what they were doing.

As for the Alice users, Ruka was so shocked that he didn't realize his bunny went off somewhere. Hotaru just blinks. Yuu makes a strange face and then faints. Mikan just stares at Koko with dotted eyes.

And Tezuka? Well, Tezuka merely just thanked God that he wasn't able to drink any of Inui's power-up juices.

"N-No way…" Oishi starts, breaking the silence, taking a few steps forward. "T-the kid's kidding, right? Hey, Inui, he can't be right!"

Eiji fakes a laugh and nervously takes his racket, his sweat increasingly falling. "Y-yeah, t-that can't be true!" He tries to agree, believing that the ingredients were a lie, but to no avail since Inui was stunned. "I k-knew there was something wrong with Inui's juice, but it can't be THAT wrong… r-right, Inui? I'm sure you're not that mad to actually make us drink all those stuff… right? I'm right, right? Ne, Inui?"

Inui doesn't answer and just look down and stare at his Remix Juice. _How did he know? That was a secret! _He chants to himself in his mind again and again.

Natsume sighs and stands up, getting annoyed of the deafening silence. Sure, he was also surprised and didn't expected that the ingredients were dead –beep- and other disgusting things, but they didn't need to be _that _surprised. Or maybe they do.

"Hey, four-eyes…" Natsume calls out to the stunned Inui, who still cannot accept the fact that he lost. "We guessed it correct, right? Just announce that we're on the club and then drink your disgusting remix juice to get this over with."

_No! Inui, tell them they're wrong! _Oishi, Fuji, Eiji and the others think to themselves, horrified. _If you tell them that they're wrong, then that means that what we drank weren't some dead –beep-, a –beep-, and other disgusting –beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep-!!!!!!!_

Inui looks up and gives a forced smile, and finally gives in, "W-welcome to the t-tennis club."

"_**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" **_and the Tennis players who unfortunately drank Inui's Juices in the past cried.

_Dear Grandpa,_

_I'll write to you soon as I get back to my senses._

_Mikan_

* * *

**  
To be continued…**

_**Another ultra long chapter… for the record, it passed 3000 words! Sigh! So, what do you think of this chapter? I'm trying hard to update everyday since school is starting in 2 days and after that, I'll have less time to write. So, for you to know when the next update is (since when school starts, it won't be everyday anymore), read this (which is also available in my Homepage):**_

_**If any of you wants to receive any personal update from me (Like when is the next chapter is going out), please email me at " **__**phoenix (underscore )swordsman (the a sign here) yahoo(dot)com**__**", not the email address I use here. If you email me with that request, I will notify you what the next chapter will be (a small summary of the next chapter) and when it is going to come out so that you'll know when the next chapter is available.**_

_**Also, please don't forget to REVIEW… okay? I need the INSPIRATION to keep me ongoing… If I don't get enough reviews, there won't be a next chapter… Hehehe, well, maybe.**_

_**Phoenix swordsman**_

_**REVIEW!**_


	5. The Fiery Competition!

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. All Rights Reserved to them. Thank you.

**NOTE: ****This chapter will be my LAST****everyday update. By Tuesday, we're going to have classes and with that, I'll update occasionally, maybe once or twice every week. So, if you want me to email you about when the next update will be out and a summary of it, notify me by requesting in my email address which is available in my Author's Page. I won't have free time anymore as to PM all of you, unless you add this story to your Stories Alert. Thanks!**

**Chapter 5: A Fiery Competition!  
**

It was a very chaotic Tuesday afternoon for the Seigaku Tennis Players. Ever since the arrival of the six Student Visitors, everything inside the Seigaku Tennis Court turned upside down. People started barfing and vomiting everywhere and others even excused themselves to go to a doctor, while some were already writing their will and were on the verge of fainting. All because of Inui's Special Super Sonic Remix Juice that was made up of things that were too frightening to even mention in this fan fic, and, thus, were forced to be censored.

"Hey, four-eyes, we won and we're a part of the club now, right?" Natsume starts, putting his hand on his pockets, appearing calm and relaxed. Inui stares at him, holding his pitcher of his dreadful juice with trembling hands, still not believing he lost a challenge. "Since we won, we're officially a part of the club… but don't you think we're forgetting something here?"

Inui clears his throat and tries to regain his usual cool posture. "W-what is it?"

Natsume smirks and crosses his arms. "The other rule of this challenge that was almost forgotten is that…" he pauses and glares at Inui in the eye. "… if you lose, you're going to drink that Special whatever-your-name-is Juice of yours. Don't tell me you've forgotten about it… and if you're intelligent enough, I'm sure you won't go as low as to escape from your own promise."

"_Sure, I'll drink my own invention… that is, IF you win," _a blurred voice of Inui suddenly enters the awkward atmosphere. Natsume turns around and sees the emotionless Hotaru holding a silver voice recorder, which is, probably, her invention. Hotaru then presses another button and the voice repeats, "_Sure, I'll drink my own invention… that is, IF you win."_

"W-why and when did you record that?" Ruka asks, finally coming back to his senses, his pet bunny finally in his arms once again. As far as the blonde boy can remember, Hotaru didn't have that a while ago before they were knocked-out cold to Koko's Mind-Reading statement.

"For evidence," Hotaru flatly replies, her purple eyes staring at Inui's box-shaped glasses. "I had it on just in case he pretends to forget about the deal."

_She's really scary, _Ruka, Horio and the other boys think to themselves with a small sweat drop above their heads.

Inui scratches his head and fakes a laugh, "Ha! Ha! Ha!... err, of course, how could I forget something… err, as Important as that?" then he looks at his brown and sticky Remix Juice and thinks to himself, _I made that promise because I was so sure I'll win… this is so illogical! Should I drink… or shouldn't I? _Inui could still remember all the disgusting ingredients he mixed in this remix juice last night… his evil laugh while making it, while blood of his ingredients splattered all around…

Okay, rewind, rewind, backtrack, whatever… let's go back in time…

Inui was actually running out of ideas for his remix juices… he already made "Akazu" and "Aozu" and even mixed them together. So, he just went around and walked on the streets when he saw a dead –beep- on the road, crushed by a car, and then he made the greatest idea ever. Soon, he was found rummaging through their neighbor's garbage can grinning to himself like some mad lunatic idiot, mumbling about a strengthened 'Inui Special Super Sonic Remix Juice' and how it'll blow everyone's minds tomorrow in practice over and over, as if chanting an ancient ethnic mantra.

"D-don't worry Inui-senpai," Katsuo comforts with a nervous smile. "I read somewhere that the legs of dead –beep- are very nutritious. I just don't know if it's going to be tasty… in that… remix juice of yours… with all the disgusting things inside it…"

"Baka," Hotaru says in her impassive tone of voice as she pulls out a camera from her hands. "He doesn't need words of comfort. Look at him; he's scared to drink his own creation. When you meet a man who's about to die, you need to force him to write a will and leave some money to you."

"Leaving that aside," Yuu sighs, coming back to his senses, rubbing his dizzy head. "What are you doing with that camera?"

"Funeral pictures," Hotaru replies straightforwardly, freaking Inui and Oishi out with her sick honesty. Her purple eyes suddenly gleams and then smiles at Inui, saying, "Oh, don't worry, please act as if I'm not here."

Tezuka sighs. When did it get to this? They were so busy practicing for the upcoming ranking matches but now… the Tennis Courts are filled with barf and vomits. How can they ever practice without stepping on those disgusting chunks of eaten food? And now, a group of weirdoes joined the Tennis Club, and Inui still needs to drink his Vegetable Juice… well, that is, IF it's made up of vegetables…

"Okay, Inui, go to the bathroom and drink your juice to get this over with," Tezuka finally orders, surprising the others. "And please, as a man, don't escape your fate. Everyone, including the newcomers, go and run 50 laps. Horio, Katsuo, Kachiro, go and clean the courts. Make sure that the horrible smells go away."

"WHAT? WHY US?" Horio complains, pouting and crossing his arms. "Why is it we're always stuck in doing the stinky jobs?" he asks to himself angrily as Kachiro hands him a mop and a little something to cover his nose and some gloves. "Mou, I don't want to clean these crappy and smelly and gross chunks of meat! Hey, what is that crawling thing in that barf…? Wait a minute! That's a worm! And there are loads of them! YUCK!"

Katsuo sighs as he resumes cleaning. What a day this has been… so many things happened in one day it's almost unbelievable... the incident early that morning, the one during lunchtime, and the discovery of the horrible truth about the terrifying "Inui's Juice"… what's next?

**Meanwhile…**

"Jeez, why do we have to run again?" Eiji whines as he, Ryoma, Momo, Kawamura, Oishi, Fuji, Kaidoh and the other newcomers run around the field of their school. "But anyway, it's good that you guys were able to join the club, putting aside the fact that you were the cause of the shocking truth of Inui's juice…"

"We're terribly sorry about that," Ruka apologizes as he tries to run and catch up with the others. "We never expected that horrible things were the ingredients. Frankly, I thought that what he used were just some sugars and some spice and everything nice…"

"Ssss… this isn't some power puff girl series, kid," Kaido hisses, his scary viper-like eyes turning to Ruka's kind blue ones, but before he could glare at the blonde Animal-Pheromone Alice user, his eyes lands on the bunny that is on Ruka's arms. His gaze quickly softens, but then, he remembers his position and instantly shakes his head. _I cannot let them see my soft side here! _He thinks to himself with a light blush.

"Hey, where's that little purple-eyed friend of yours, Mikan-chan?" Momo asks as they turn around for another lap. Mikan looks at her with a surprised look, as if telling him who he was talking about. "Of, you know, the girl that was claimed the so-called 'money-greedy nightmare' of Horio?"

Eiji nods and looks around. "Yeah, I haven't seen her anywhere?"

And then, all of a sudden, a big mecha robot with all kinds of weapons appears beside the running group, surprising all of them to the point of even making Kawamura faint for the second time that day. Then, like them, the robot starts to run, too, making the others fall down anime-style.

"W-what the hell is that thing?!" Momo asks with a very astonished voice, rubbing his eyes with both his hands. Then he turns around and asks loudly, "We're still in the year 2007, right?"

"This is Hotaru speaking… this is Invention #97: All-Out-War-And-Locomotion Gundam-style Robot," Hotaru tells through the speakers, pushing a few buttons around her (since she's the one handling the robot). "This is a robot especially made to fight evildoers or aliens from outer space. You can handle it automatically or manually. It can also be used for playing sports. It has an installed Chibi-Robot for emergencies. It will be on sale in the year 2015."

But before anyone can go gaga or go crazy or go wide eye in amazement, Eiji steps forwards and complains, as if what he's currently seeing is normal, "NO FAIR! We go running around for so many laps and get tired and all you need to do is push buttons! Who knows, you might be drinking tea and having cookies!"

"I am," Hotaru replies through her speakers once again, making a sipping sound as if she's currently drinking something. This infuriates the acrobatic tennis player, for he feels that Hotaru is mocking him. Hotaru sighs and puts down her cup of tea and admits, "Don't worry. I get tired, too… from pushing buttons."

"Hey… who do you think is more abnormal?" Oishi asks Fuji with a tired sigh, his hand covering his face. "Hotaru-chan, who, in the middle of running laps from the orders of Tezuka, shows up in an unbelievable giant gundam-like robot, or Eiji, who acts as if he sees a robot like that in everyday life?"

Fuji chuckles to himself and responds with his usual friendly smile, "I wonder…" then he smiles wider as he turns to Natsume and Ryoma, who are currently engaged in a glaring battle. _Red versus Hazel… who will win, is a more likely question… _Fuji thinks to himself, very much aware of the competition between the two.

After a few minutes of pointless arguing and running, the Seigaku regulars and the new members of the club return to the now very sweet-smelling and clean Tennis Courts, that seem to be twinkling in their eyes. The hard-working janitors, Horio, Katsuo, and Kachiro rest in one bench, obviously tired and exhausted.

"Good work, boys," Oishi compliments the three with a smile as he takes a towel from his bag and starts wiping his sweat. "As a reward for your hard work, I'll treat you to something next week."

"Really, Oishi-senpai?" Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro exclaim happily in unison. Oishi grins and nods right back at them. The three exchange gleeful glances to each other and gives a small bow to their comrade. "Arigato Gozaimasu, Oishi-senpai!"

Mikan sits down on a bench, obviously tired. She takes her backpack and rummages through her things for water, but to no avail. The tangerine-named girl then sighs, closing her eyes, ignoring her almost drying up throat. After a while, she opens her eyes and sees a bottle of cold water in front of her. She looks up and notices Natsume handing her his water while looking away.

"Natsume…?" Mikan mumbles, confused.

Natsume glances at her and gives her a glare, "Just take it, polka-dots."

_**Doki. Doki.**_

Mikan turns wide-eye when her heart starts beating fast, as if it's in a race. _Hmm… I wonder if I'm coming down with something? _She thinks to herself stupidly. Then, she looks up and smiles brightly and takes the water from Natsume's hand. "Thank you," she starts, looking at Natsume with her chocolate eyes. "…Natsume."

Natsume looks away and grumbles, "Tch. Baka."

Oblivious to the two, Echizen Ryoma watches them from afar, his intense almond-shaped hazel eyes staring at them. He takes his racket and walks toward the new guy, namely Hyuuga Natsume.

"Hey, Hyuuga," he calls out with his usual arrogant-like smirk. Natsume turns to him and glowers at him with his concentrated ruby eyes, as if telling the Tennis Prodigy to go away. "Wanna play a one-on-one match with me?"

Natsume gives an equally conceited smirk and takes a racket below the bench, as if answering a "yes". But before Ryoma could say anything else, the self-proclaimed 'Black Cat' lifts up another kind of ball that is similar to a hollow rubber ball frequently used in tennis but is color blue and has a giant "A" sign printed on it.

"Sure, no problem… I'll play with you until you're satisfied," Natsume answers, tossing the blue ball to Ryoma, to which Ryoma easily catches with his other free hand. The dark-green haired 13 years old boy eyes the unfamiliar ball closely, as if wondering where it came from. "But we'll use that ball I brought."

Yuu, who was near the group, hears the conversation. He turns around and sees the ball and somehow feels a little déjà vu. _I think I've seen that ball before…_ the class representative thinks to himself, putting a hand below his chin. _Think, think, think… where have you seen that ball?_ And then, in a blink of an eye, he finally identifies the orb.

The ball that was banned in Class B because of a certain someone… the ball that can turn into different shapes and can do different functions depending on the Alice the sender has… the ball that can be both harmless and dangerous… the Alice Ball!

Yuu's eyes finally flutters wide open as he realizes what danger Ryoma has gotten himself into. The class representative quickly turns to Natsume and panics, "N-Natsume! You can't use that ball! A-as the c-class representative, I forbid you on playing with such a dangerous instrument!"

Ryoma looks up and stares at the ball, "Why? It's just an ordinary ball… there's nothing unusual about it except that it's blue and has an 'A' sign…" Ryoma mumbles looking at it, wondering why Yuu was so scared. "Don't worry, I'm not going to lose. I _never_ lose. Not once." Ryoma proclaims with his usual smirk, staring at Natsume.

"Let's see about that…" Natsume growls while taking his racket and ignoring Yuu's constant pleas for him not to continue. With this, both he and Ryoma take Court B, surprising the other Seigaku players and regulars who are practicing in the other courts.

"Ooh, a game?" Momo asks with a wide smile, finally taking a break from his practice match with Eiji and starts to watch the upcoming competition between Regular Echizen Ryoma and newcomer Hyuuga Natsume in the second court. Soon, everyone decides to watch the game between the two freshmen. "This I got to see."

"Mikan, Ruka, everyone, this is an emergency! Ryoma is in danger!" Yuu exclaims, running to his Alice-user friends, his golden eyes expressing utmost fear and worry. He adjusts his glasses and continues; "Natsume and Ryoma are going to start a Tennis match!" everyone just stares at him with blank looks, speculating what was wrong with having a competition. Yuu shakes his head and adds, "… using the Alice Ball!"

"WHAT?!" everyone exclaims, dismayed, well, except for Hotaru. She expected that this was going to happen, so she brought a video cam just in case. Soon, the Alice users found themselves squirming between the audiences to get to the Front Line, but they were already too late. Natsume was already making a serve.

_No! _Mikan thinks to herself, horrified, her mind absolutely blank._ Natsume no baka! What are you thinking!_

With the intention of defeating Ryoma in mind, Natsume throws the Alice Ball high in the air, thinking, _You arrogant jerk… _Soon, he jumps and moves his racket behind his head. _I'm not going to let you win…_ As the Alice Ball finally goes down, he strikes his racket toward the sphere, brushing it from 7 o'clock to 1 o'clock position, making the almost impossible "Twist Serve". _I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU WIN!_

"Wow, a Twist Serve! I thought only Ryoma can do that!" Momo cheers, clapping his hands, failing to notice that something was strange in the ball that Natsume served.

Fuji smiles and puts a hand to his chin, smiling, "Ohh, a Twist Serve… that Natsume has talent…" But before Fuji could compliment the newcomer any further, he notices that the ball seems to be making a yellowish-red spark. He quickly opens his eyes wide enough to reveal his blue orbs as he thinks to himself, horror-struck, _Fire?!_

Ryoma smirks as he prepares to make a return strike, thinking, _so, he can also make a Twist Serve… he never ceases to amaze me… _As the ball nears, he puts his racket to his right hand and then starts to move his arm, when suddenly; he notices something from the corners of his almond-shaped eyes… something red and hot. Then, as if by instinct, Ryoma doesn't move until the unfamiliar ball goes down to his part of the Tennis court, his hazel eyes widening in bewilderment to realize that the ball they're using is covered in flames.

_What the – How did that happen?! _Ryoma, Fuji, Oishi, Momo, Eiji and the others think to themselves as they witness an unexplainable and unimaginable occurrence with surprised and shocked eyes, speechless. Tezuka widens his eyes and stares at the mysterious newcomer, as if trying to observe him for the first time.

"15 – 0," Natsume smirks with one hand in his pocket and the other one holding his racket that's gently placed on his shoulders, getting the attention of the shocked Ryoma. He tilts his head and gives a mocking lop-sided smile.

"Oh no… it already happened…" Yuu sighs, covering his chubby-like face with his hands. "What are we going to say to Jinno-sensei?"

Mikan stares at the restless Yuu with helpless brown eyes, her heart beating fast against her chest, her sweat already starting to form into little beads. "Natsume…"

_Dear Grandpa,_

_Natsume and Ryoma-kun are having a tennis match, with Natsume given the honor to serve first. There's nothing wrong with that, right? But somehow, in this match, something happened that shouldn't happen… what should I do, Grandpa?_

_Mikan_

* * *

_**  
To be continued…**_

**Okay, that's the 5****th**** chapter of this story… and the last "everyday" update… phew, writing long stories really takes a lot of my time, but I really don't mind… I enjoy it very much! So, I'm sure that you've notice the note below the disclaimer, so, I'll leave it all to you to do what you wish.**

**Please REVIEW, it's a sign of appreciation for my work. Compliments are welcome, criticisms are considered but flames are a no-no.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Phoenix-Swordsman**


	6. The Undecided Victor!

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. All Rights Reserved to them. Thank you.

**Chapter 6: The Undecided Victor!**

It was a very tense match between Tennis Prodigy Echizen Ryoma and the mysterious newcomer Hyuuga Natsume. Somehow, at the start of the match, Natsume was able to show off a bit of his talent for Tennis by giving an almost impossible serve called the "Twist Serve", which was also one of Ryoma's main weapons. But because of using the Alice Ball, the Seigaku players were able to witness something extraordinary: the ball was set on fire… with no rational explanation of how or why.

Momo swallows hard and blinks his eyes in shock, totally bewildered beyond words. "I… I think I've seen another version of 'Kawamura's Burning'…" he comments foolishly, his gaze still not moving in disbelief. "Except for the fact that that the background isn't on fire, but the ball itself…"

"I-I-I'm going to agree with you on that one…" Eiji stammers softly, his knees getting weak. Sure, he has seen sufficient balls being returned over the tennis net fast enough to make anyone dizzy, but this is the first time he has ever seen a ball that actually came on fire! And that only happens to meteorites! _**JUST WHO IS THIS KID?!**_

Natsume smirks and starts to position himself, both his hands on his racket, smiling as if enjoying the incredulity of the audience. Thanks to the Alice Ball and to his dangerous Fire Alice, he'll defeat that Ryoma and crush his overconfidence and cockiness permanently. He'll embarrass him and will make him the laughing stock of everyone without making himself at fault. _That bastard, he just makes me so mad!_ Natsume thinks to himself, his eyes ablaze.

Then, Natsume takes the Alice Ball once again and tosses it up high in the air, making everyone hold their breaths. Mikan swallows hard as she stares at the ball with her dark brown eyes, fearing what will happen then. She wants to stop Natsume right now and nullify his Alice with her own, but her own two feet doesn't seem to listen to her, no matter how much she tries. It is as if her feet are planted to the ground.

Soon enough, Natsume makes the Twist Serve again, and obviously, the Alice Ball was on fire. Ryoma twitches his eyebrows and prepares to strike this back using his left hand, signifying that he is also serious in beating Natsume, no matter how much tricks he has in his sleeve. Magic or not, he _has _to win. He can't lose to this stuck-up guy who's too confident with himself.

As the Alice Ball nears, Ryoma tightly grips his racket and hits it with a powerful strike. As he hits it, the fire disappears in an instant, making Ryoma surprised. Natsume follows the ball and hits back with a strong swing, making fire appear once again, without ceasing to build amazement and confusion in the crowd of audiences.

_How does he do it? _Ryoma thinks to himself, ignoring the warm feeling the fire sends to his arm as he hits the ball back with another powerful sway of his racket. _Hm, it's not that I care, anyway… he may have enough potential to be a tennis player and a magician but he can never beat me…_

Natsume gives a conceited smirk and hits the Alice Ball back to Ryoma's part of the court once again, using his Alice once more for the fourth time that day. But as he strikes the ball with his Fire, the ruby-eyed Alice user feels a familiar pain in his upper body, just like the pains he experienced whenever he comes back from a mission. The horrifying soreness he hated to deal with… is finally coming back to overwhelm him.

_Oh crap,_ Natsume thinks to himself, his eyes widening and his free hand trying to clutch to his chest tightly, alerting Mikan and the others. The dark-haired boy slowly lets go of his racket as his knees tremble and fall down to the ground. _No, not again… _he secretly thinks again to himself as he grits his teeth, trying to endure the pain in his chest.

"H-hey, what's wrong with him?" Oishi asks as he stares at Natsume with a worried face, wondering what happened to the mysterious newcomer and why he looks like he is in pain. "Are you alright, Natsume-kun? Do you need to go to a clinic or something?"

Ryoma ignores the ball coming to his side of the Tennis Court and allows it to go down without even hitting it, as if secretly saying that the game doesn't matter anymore. The hazel-eyed tennis prodigy starts to stare at Natsume who is kneeling down in pain with a puzzled look, thinking, _what the… what's happening to him?_

_No, no, no… why appear now of all days? _Natsume thinks as he gasps for breath, the pain he's feeling getting stronger and more hurtful. This always happen when he overuses his Fire Alice, but he just executed it on an Alice Ball, minimizing the level of his flames… so why is it coming back to him now? And in the middle of an important match between him and Ryoma? _Why come back now…? No, not in this entire people watching me! Not in front of her!_

"Natsume… Natsume?!" Mikan exclaims, starting to panic. She finally comes back to her senses and starts to run to her red-eyed friend, whose breathing is currently uneven. As she touches Natsume's arm, the dangerous type Alice user falls down and lands on her lap, his sweat falling, his cheeks red and his hand gripping his chest firmly. "Natsume, are you alright? What's happening to you?!"

"It hurts. My chest hurts. I feel so numb… damn it to all, why is it happening to me now?" Koko states loudly as he reads Natsume's mind, getting the attention of the Seigaku regulars and the rest of the Alice users, tensing the atmosphere. "Koko, you have guts to read my mind in front of me. After I recover, I'm going to –beep- you and –beep- you then feed you to the –beep- if you don't shut up." Koko gives a tight smile and turns around and stares at the Tennis courts with fake admiration, as if pretending he didn't say anything.

Katsuo, as Natsume's host during their six months stay in a Student Visit Program, turns in anxiety to the barely struggling ruby-eyed 13 years old newcomer. "Is Natsume-kun going to be alright?" Katsuo asks in a worried voice. Although he's scared of Natsume since the first time he met him, he also grew an attachment to him, being seatmates and all.

Ruka, being the gentle and caring best friend he always is to Natsume, runs toward his pained friend and asks him with a concerned voice, "Natsume, its coming back again, isn't it?" Natsume grits his teeth and stiffly nods. Ruka bits his lower lips and turns to the tall Seigaku regulars. "C-Can any of you bring Natsume to the nearest hospital?"

Momo steps and walks forward with an unease look, obviously worrying about Natsume who's barely gasping for breath in Mikan's lap and caring embrace. "I-I guess he can ride with me in my bike and we can –"

"SHUT UP!" Natsume snaps angrily, holding his chest strongly, forcing himself to sit up. But because of the pain, Natsume twitches and falls back again and lands on Mikan's lap, the girl clearly concerned and willingly let Natsume rest on her leg. Natsume turns to Ruka and begs between gasps, "Get… the medicine… from my… bag… Ruka…"

The blonde-haired boy bits his lower lips and starts to protest, "B-but, Natsume, you know how those medicine isn't really go –"

"Just… do it, Ruka!" Natsume orders, the pain inside him getting more spiteful and more forceful. The blue-eyed Alice user swallows hard and nods back. Ruka stands up and quickly takes Natsume's bag and looks for the medicine that Persona gave Natsume a few days ago before the Student Visit Program. _Natsume…_ he thinks to himself with a nervous look. Ruka finally finds the pills and quickly gives it to Natsume. "Here…"

"Thanks…" Natsume breathes, stiffly taking one pill from the container. Hotaru gives him a bottle of water, to which he hesitantly accepts, being Hotaru and all. Natsume puts the pill in his mouth and drinks the water. After a while, he sighs and starts to stand up, but before he could stand on his own, Fuji carries him up with his hands, making the others surprised. "W-what the… what are you doing, bastard?!"

Fuji smiles warmly at him and replies, without letting go, "No, no, you're sick, aren't you, Natsume-kun?" The brown-haired Seigaku regular turns to Ryoma and asks with another friendly grin, "How about calling it a day, Ryoma-kun? Why don't you two finish this match some other time?"

Ryoma looks down to his racket and nods, "Sure, I guess." _And when we continue, I'll surely beat him… _Ryoma thinks to himself with a resolved smirk.

Natsume grits his teeth as he complains angrily, "What do you mean finish the match some other time?!" The red-eyed boy squirms all around as he struggles to get free from Fuji's grasp, but to no avail. Natsume takes a deep breath then exclaims, "Let go of me, you bastard! I'm going to defeat that Ryoma right now, right here!"

Fuji shakes his head and puts Natsume on his shoulder, making him look like a sack of rice being carried away. Natsume clenches his fists and starts to kick his legs, saying, "Let go of me! Damn it! I'm not some kid you can just get your hands on! Bastard!" Natsume glances to Ryoma and sees him smirking, as if mocking him. Natsume digs his fingers into the skin of his palms as he thinks, _that jerk…_

The Seigaku regular sighs and turns around, putting his free hand on his hips, sighing, "My, my… for a first year junior, you do swear a lot." Fuji smiles as Natsume quiets down, but he could still hear the grumbles of the newcomer. He turns to the quiet Tezuka and asks, "So, Tezuka, call it a day?"

Tezuka makes an unnoticeable grunt and adjusts his glasses with his hand. He looks up and announces with a loud voice, "That's all for today. Club is dismissed. We'll practice again tomorrow, and everyone, be prepared for the Ranking Matches one week from now."

Eiji sighs as he picks his bag from the bench, his free hand wiping the sweat off his face with a towel. He sits down on the floor Indian-style and whines, "Geez, and to think I was so excited to know who'll win the match between the two freshmen… I actually didn't know who'll be the victor!"

"I agree with you on that one," Momo says as he sits down beside Eiji, a cold bottle of water in his hand. The violet-eyed 2nd year Seigaku regular rests his cheek with his hand as he continues, "That Hyuuga Natsume… I don't know how he does it but he made the ball go on fire every time he hit it…" Then he looks up and wonders, "… but that ball was kind of weird, too… it didn't look like your average Tennis ball…"

"Could it be the ball?" Eiji wonders out loud. He shakes his head as he theorizes, "Nah, it couldn't be the ball… I mean, when Ryoma hit it, it didn't spark…" He smiles brightly as he concludes, "I guess we just earned a Magician-like Tennis Player! That's so cool!"

Momo drinks his cold water as he stares at Natsume, who is currently being carried on the back of Shusuke Fuji. _Magician… huh…_ Momo thinks to himself as he looks up to the orange-colored sky. _I wonder if that's true…?_

**Meanwhile…**

Fuji turns to the timid Mizuno Katsuo, a freshman of the club, with a friendly smile as he carries the struggling Natsume on his shoulders. "Katsuo-kun, would you mind if I accompany you and Natsume-kun on your way home for today?" Fuji asks with his warm and friendly voice, his eyes closed as usual. Katsuo shakes his head, saying he doesn't mind at all.

_I think that would save me, _Katsuo thinks to himself with a scared face. He glances to Natsume who's been making angry and chilling faces against the tall Fuji. _I think that would make me alive at least for another day…_

Horio stiffly walks to the purple-eyed Imai Hotaru, his backpack on his shoulders. In his hands is his allowance money, which might be devoured by his 'money-grubbing nightmare'. _Okay... First, I'll tell her we need to get home as soon as possible… when she appears to have forgotten about the debt, I'll not mention the word 'money'… okay! A great strategy! Horio, you're such a genius!_

"Imai-san, practice is already over, why don't we go home now?" Horio asks the emotionless Alice user with, making his voice as cheerful as possible. Hotaru turns to him, her eyes glinting under the sunset, giving Horio cold chills in his spine. "W-why are you looking at me like that, Imai-san…?

"Money," Hotaru blankly says, turning to the stiff and frozen Horio. "What, did you think I've forgotten about your debt? I'm not that stupid like you. Now pay up."

Horio pulls out his allowance money for the week with tears in his eyes, secretly cursing the stupid Student Visit Program, the stupid school, and this stupid Imai Hotaru. _So… I'm going to put with this kind of routine for six months, eh? _Horio thinks to himself as he stares at Hotaru counting the money with a tired and exhausted look. _God, spare me…_

"A-are you alright, Ruka-san?" Kachiro asks his blonde-haired friend, who keeps having secret glances to Natsume, who, in the horizon, is fading away from eyes' reach since his host is going home. Ruka turns to him and gives a friendly small smile. "D-don't worry, Katsuo is kind… I'm sure his family won't do anything to Natsume-san!"

Ruka takes his backpack and nods back at him, replying, "Yes, I know that. Don't worry about me, Kachiro-kun." _It's not that I'm afraid of what will happen to Natsume… _he thinks to himself. He then turns around to see Ryoma approaching Mikan. Ruka frowns at this as he thinks further; _I'm just sending him signals… of what Ryoma might be up to._

Mikan puts her hand on her chest as he stares at Natsume's retreating figure. She can't believe it… it was the first time she saw Natsume truly in pain, struggling to endure the hurt he felt inside. When she saw him that way, she felt a twinge in her heart. It was as if she wanted to cry and wanted to relieve him from the soreness overwhelming him.

_I… wasn't able to do anything for him…_ Mikan thinks to herself, lowering her head, her bangs shadowing her eyes. _He was so much in pain… and I wasn't able to do anything for him… is this how Natsume feels every time he overuses his Alice? I'm such a failure as a friend… Oh, Natsume…_ Mikan blinks and realizes her eyes are flooded with tears. _Am I… crying?_

She looks up and sees Ryoma handing her a handkerchief, his lips in a thin line. Mikan blinks once again, her tears finally rolling to her rosy cheeks. Ryoma notices this and sighs to himself, saying, "Crying over a guy like him… here, wipe your tears with my handkerchief."

"R-Ryoma…kun…" Mikan whispers, her eyes widening. She gives a weak smile and gladly accepts the handkerchief. "Thank you," she whispers once again as she wipes away her tears. As the hankie passes through her nose, she thinks to herself, _Ryoma-kun's scent… it's… good…_

"I don't understand why you're actually crying over an arrogant jerk like him," Ryoma comments as he takes his backpack over his shoulders, his intense hazel-eyes looking away. "You shouldn't worry too much about that guy… he's the type of person who wouldn't give in to something as weak as that." Ryoma turns to Mikan who's staring at him with disbelief. "It's not that I'm discouraging you from worrying about him… but I don't think he'll like it if he knows you pity him. That guy's pride is somewhat large."

Mikan stares at Ryoma with confused eyes. Then, for a moment, she finally understands what he was trying to say. She didn't know if he was trying to comfort her and cheer her up, but she agrees with him somehow. _As for now… I'll believe in Natsume…_ she thinks to herself. _I'm sure he'll be alright!_

Soon, she takes her backpack as everyone in the Tennis Court is finally going home. But as she tries to run back to the entrance gate where Ryoma is waiting for her, she feels her knees weaken. "Oh!" she exclaims with a surprised voice as she falls down. Mikan closes her eyes and waits for the fall, but feels nothing. She opens her eyes to see that Ryoma caught her just in time. "Ryoma-kun!"

"You're really clumsy, aren't you?" Ryoma says blankly as he lets go of Mikan.

"I'm sorry," Mikan awkwardly apologizes, her hand scratching the back of her auburn head. She looks down and stares at the ground below her and then gives an apologetic smile, "I-I guess I'm somewhat tired… and still shocked… about what happened earlier… I'm really sorry!"

Ryoma stares at the chocolate-eyed newcomer with his almond-shaped hazel eyes, as if observing her for a minute. She really looked like she's tired, and her skin turned paler lately. The tennis prodigy sighs as he turns around and kneels down, his back facing Mikan.

"R-Ryoma-kun?" Mikan mutters, her eyes widening, confused why Ryoma is exposing his back to her. "What are you doing?"

"Get on my back," Ryoma instructs her, turning his head a little to glance at her. Mikan stares back at him, puzzled, not knowing what to do. Ryoma notices the hesitant look she has on her face and sighs. "You're tired, aren't you? If you walk, you'll probably slow us down. Besides, my mom and my cousin are excited to see you. I also don't want to go home late because of you. It's faster this way." He glances to Mikan and repeats, "Come on, get on my back."

Mikan looks at Ryoma with a light blush in her cheeks. Riding on the back of a boy? Who would have thought that Sakura Mikan actually has the guts to do that? If she does that, she'll never find a husband in the future! But… it was nice of him to worry about her, to the point of letting her ride on his back.

She walks nearer and nervously asks, "A-are you sure it's okay?" Ryoma remains quiet. "I-I'm quite heavy, you know?"

"Just get on my back…" Ryoma impatiently tells her, his hazel eyes looking forward. Soon, he feels the light weight of Mikan on his back, her arms surrounding his neck. Ryoma then stands up, his arms protectively on Mikan's knees (or somewhat like that… just imagine a piggyback ride). _She's not heavy…_ Ryoma thinks to himself as the two of them exit Seishun Gakuen/Seigaku. _She's very light…_

Mikan, feeling sleepy all of a sudden, rests her head on Ryoma's soft shoulders, her eyes staring at Ryoma's dark-green hair. _He really smells good… even after Tennis practice… _she thinks to herself as Ryoma continues on walking. She closes her eyes slowly with a thin smile. _I… like it… it makes me feel… calmer…_

_Dear Grandpa,_

_Natsume somehow collapsed today… it was probably because he was overusing his Alice… but I really don't understand it... However, I believe in Natsume. He'll be alright, and Ryoma-kun assured me that. He's a really nice guy… I wonder why Natsume hates him?_

_Mikan_

**Meanwhile…**

Back to the Seigaku Tennis Courts, Oishi and Eiji were the last to clean up the place, since the three freshmen already cleaned the barfs and vomit a while earlier. Soon, they finish the job and are already preparing to leave.

Eiji turns around and stares at the Tennis Courts, his hand rubbing his chin. He turns to their Vice-President and exclaims, "Hey… why do I get the feeling we're forgetting something here?"

Oishi turns to him with puzzles eyes and puts his hands on his hips. He also repeats Eiji's action by making one last long look at the Tennis Courts. He then shrugs and starts to walk away, saying, "It's probably your imagination, Eiji. Now come on or we'll be locked in here."

The acrobatic tennis player follows Oishi while making one last worried look at the Tennis Courts. "Y-yeah…" he mumbles to himself, scratching his head. _But I really feel as if we're forgetting something…_ then he smiles brightly and runs to catch up to Oishi. _Nah, it's probably my imagination!_

But… they did forget something… but it's really not a 'something' but a 'someone'…

In the Seigaku Boys' Bathroom, a certain Seigaku Regular named Sadahara Inui is on the floor, his 'Inui Special Super Sonic Remix Juice' splattered on the walls, on the toilets and on the sink, making it look like a crime scene, but not really a crime scene since it doesn't stink of blood but the smell of the "Vegetable Juice".

Inui stiffly moves his head up, revealing his green face, as if about to puke. "I…" he starts, stretching his hand forward, looking like he wants to reach the door. "I… can't… drink… anymore!" Soon, his face changes color as he feels his stomach heating up. _Anyone… out there…_

_Help… me…_

After that, Inui finally faints. Poor guy.

* * *

_**To be continued…**_

**Okay, here's your 6****th**** chapter everyone! So, what do you think about it? Phew, I wasn't able to update it during the weekdays since I'm getting tons of homework! Ah, summer, please come back… Anyway, I wonder if Ryoma's been a little OOC? Ah well, it's my fanfic! I can do whatever I want with them! **

**Please REVIEW! It's a sign of appreciation for my work. Criticisms are considered but flames are a no-no. Thanks!**

**REVIEW!**

**Your Magical Knight,**

**PhoenixSwordsman**


	7. First Night Mikan

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. All Rights Reserved to them. Thank you.

**Chapter 7: The First Night (Mikan)**

It was already near dusk as the orange-colored sun slowly retreated beyond the horizon, the stars gradually appearing on the turning black sky. Soon, streetlights were already being turned on to guide travelers on their way. Children playing tag with their friends finally went home to spend the rest of the day with their families. It's this time where everything turns to peace… or not.

"Ryoma! What a cute girl you have there on your back!" Echizen Nanjiro, Ryoma's father, who, in his earlier years, was known as the "Samurai Nanjiro" in the world of Tennis, exclaims happily as he spots Ryoma coming back home with an asleep girl on his back. The tennis player-turned-Buddhist walks up to his son and grins naughtily, "So… you finally found a girlfriend, huh? You two-timer you… First Sakuno, and then this girl…"

"Oi, oyaji (Dad), don't make false assumptions," Ryoma replies with a blank tone of voice, walking past his dad. "I don't have any girlfriend, and this girl is just the one I'm going to host with."

Nanjiro's ears suddenly perks up as he turns around, his perverted magazine in one hand while the other in the hips. He grins and says, "Oh? Interesting, Interesting… I never expected you to host a girl!" He smiles and stares at the sleeping Mikan, her soft honey-colored hair tied in two pigtails, her sweet delicate skin, her innocent and pure face… _She's really cute! Perfect for Ryoma! _He thinks to himself.

Soon, Ryoma's college-bound cousin Nanako Meino appears and sees Ryoma with a girl on his back. She smiles brightly and walks near her cousin and greets, "Welcome home, Ryoma-san!" she then turns to the still-sleeping Mikan. "What a cute girl… is she Sakura Mikan, the one we're going to host?"

Ryoma takes off his shoes and enters the house. "Yeah," he answers bluntly. Then, he kneels beside a soft green-colored sofa and gently puts Mikan there. He stares at her for a moment then turns around. He walks to his room, saying, "I'll go and change."

Nanako smiles at his retreating back and calls, "Dinner will be ready in an hour, Ryoma-san!" As Ryoma's figure fades away, the sweet-tempered cousin of Ryoma turns and observes Mikan. "How cute… she looks just like an angel!" She reaches out her hands and touches the soft silk-like auburn hair of Mikan. "Wow… I wish I can have a sister like her…"

"Nanako?" a sweet familiar voice fills the living room, disturbing Nanako from further studying the newcomer of the household. Soon, Echizen Rinko, Ryoma's mother, appears from the kitchen wearing her apron. The calm mother sees Mikan and smiles gently, "Is she Mikan-chan?" Nanako smiles and nods at her in reply. "Oh… what a pretty girl… she looks tired, we shouldn't disturb her."

As if saying the magic words, Mikan finally awakens from her peaceful slumber. Slowly, the auburn-haired Alice user opens her eyes, revealing two beautiful and warm chocolate round eyes. At first, her vision was blurry, only seeing things in a distorted point of view. After a few moments of adjusting, she finally realizes she's not in school. And that her friends are nowhere to be found.

"EH?!" Mikan exclaims as she abruptly sits up straight, surprising Nanako, making the college student almost jump up. Mikan looks around, making herself look like a foreigner in an alien country. "Eh, eh, eh?! Where am I? Wow, this is a pretty house… wah! What am I saying, where am I?!" Soon, her eyes lands on Nanako's smiling and Rinko's giggling faces. Mikan blushes lightly and asks, "Um… who are you?"

Before the two women could ever answer her, Ryoma finally comes out of his room wearing a red t-shirt and blue shorts. The tennis prodigy sees Mikan having a flushed face and looking as if she doesn't know what to do. Ryoma then walks nearer and says, "You're finally awake."

Mikan stares up at Ryoma and exclaims, "R-Ryoma-kun!" then she realizes her situation and mentally scolds herself, _I forgot! I'm in the middle of a Student Visit Program! _She then awkwardly giggles and asks sheepishly, "Oh, um… Ryoma-kun… is… is this your house?"

Ryoma looks around and replies directly, "I guess… it looks like my house."

Nanako sighs and comments, "Ryoma-san, why do you sound so sarcastic?" then the college student turns to the rosy Sakura Mikan with a gentle and friendly smile and introduces herself, "Hello, Mikan-san. I'm Meino Nanako, but can just call me Nanako-onee-san or whatever you like. I'm Ryoma's cousin." She then takes Mikan's small hands with her own and adds, "Let's be friends!"

Mikan blushes as she stares at Nanako's friendly face. While really speechless outside, deep inside, Mikan feels as if she just earned a wonderful sister. Mikan was raised by her grandfather all alone and was never able to meet her parents and she had no other siblings. Staring at Nanako's face like this, Mikan felt she reunited with a sister of hers… well, not literally.

"I'm Ryoma's mother, Rinko," Rinko greets with a calm and gentle smile. "You can call me okaa-san (mother) or mom. Are you okay with that, Mikan-chan?"

Mikan's eyes widens as she stares at Rinko's loving and mother-like face. Being a girl who never got to know her parents, Mikan feels a new warm feeling inside. Sure, she doesn't know this unfamiliar woman who appeared suddenly yet, but somewhere, in the bottom of her heart, there's a kind of longing to trust her. To have a mother this kind, even though for only six months, is already a dream come true for Mikan.

"C-can I really call you okaa-san?" Mikan asks, her eyes glowing as she gazes at Rinko, a light blush visible on her already rosy cheeks. "Is it really okay?"

Rinko smiles warmly and nods, "Of course! Since you're going to stay in our house, you're likely to become my daughter!" Mikan smiles brightly, showing her white teeth that seem to glow in perfection. "Having a son already, I don't mind having a daughter like you, Mikan-chan! I'm sure you're going to enjoy in our household."

"Thank you… okaa-san!" Mikan giggles, beaming brightly, getting Ryoma's attention.

_She… really smiles a lot, _Ryoma thinks to himself, his hands inside the pockets of his shorts. His almond-shaped hazel eyes continue to stare at Mikan, oblivious to the knowing smile Nanako is giving him. He doesn't know why, but Ryoma just finds himself making it a habit to stare at the jolly newcomer. Then, Ryoma looks around and thinks again; _somehow… the house seems more… livelier._

"Oh, oh!" Nanjiro starts again, appearing in the house with his brown Buddhist clothes, his finger pointing to himself. He grins with a light blush, "If you want, you can call me 'dad', Mikan-chan! I'm –"

"A nobody, don't bother knowing him," Ryoma interrupts, receiving a glare from his childish-like father. Since Ryoma is used to his father's antics, he brushes the glare off by ignoring his father. Ryoma smirks at his fuming dad and sarcastically says, "Well, if you take immature and perverted people like him as a fatherly figure, then be my guest and call him whatever you wish."

"Why you no good son of mine… "Nanjiro angrily starts, his hand crushing his hentai magazine. He stomps his feet and whines, "Look at what you did! I just want Mikan-chan to feel more at home! And what did you do… you embarrassed your old and poor father in front of her! Hmp! I'll forgive you this time… as of now; I think you should escort our guest to her room."

Ryoma closes his eyes for a second and then turns to the confused Mikan, who seems to be not getting the point of the quarrel at all. Ryoma then takes the Alice user's backpack in his hands and says, "Hmm, follow me. I'll lead you to your room." Mikan nods at him and follows him to where the bedrooms were located.

While walking, Mikan looks around, trying to memorize every detail of Ryoma's house. It was entirely different from Alice Academy. In her school, everything would look so extravagant and brilliant, well, except for the no-star rooms which looked like a Witch's haven. But in this house of commoners and normal people, everything seems so simple, yet, so warm and comfortable at the same time, giving a presence of sincerity and harmony. Living under a normal roof, Mikan was reminded of her old home back in the countryside.

"This is your room," Ryoma suddenly says, opening a random door. He turns on the lights to reveal a large yet comfortable room complete with a bed and other necessary and cute things. Mikan then stares at amazement as Ryoma puts her bag on a desk. "If you need anything, I'm just in a room beside yours." As Ryoma prepares to leave, Mikan then pulls his hand, making Ryoma surprise. "What?"

Mikan lets go and looks down with a small smile. "Thank you, Ryoma-kun… for being a nice friend!" Mikan then smiles warmly and goes inside her room, closing the door softly.

Ryoma stares at the room door for a while longer and then looks down to stare at his hand, especially to the part where Mikan touched him. _Friend… huh…_ he thinks to himself. He then opens the door to his room and goes inside, thinking further; _whatever…_

**Dinnertime…**

Soon, an hour passed and dinnertime came, the sweet smell and aroma of the food filling the house. Nanjiro stops reading his hentai magazine while Mikan and Ryoma step out of their rooms to the kitchen. And on the table were different kinds of dishes, to fried chicken to high-class soup to lobsters and prawns, and even ice cream!

"UWA! So many delicious foods!" Mikan exclaims, her eyes twinkling at the mere sight of it. _If Hotaru were here, she would die happy eating! _Mikan thinks to herself, suddenly thinking of her best friend. She turns to the smiling Rinko and asks, "Okaa-san, did you cook all of these?"

Rinko turns to her and lightly blushes at the 'okaa-san' part. She pats Mikan's head and replies, "Of course! I want to make Mikan-chan feel more at home, so with that… I made sure to cook different kind of foods for you!" She turns to Ryoma and smiles at him. "Like a 'Welcome' party. Right, Ryoma?"

Ryoma glances his hazel eyes to his mother and shrugs. "Hm, I guess." Ryoma then sits down and starts to eat with everyone, but stops occasionally when his 'idiotic' father starts to eat… with disturbing sound effects. "Oi, oyaji, can't you be more quieter when eating? You sound like a pig."

Nanjiro chews and swallows his fried chicken noisily and angrily replies, "What are you talking about, Ryoma?! We should be happy, happy!" The former tennis player eats one cup of rice then eats the meat of the lobsters happily, oblivious to the stares of everyone. Nanjiro notices this and laughs at them, the rice that was once in his mouth landing on the nose of Ryoma. "Hwa! Hwa! Hwa! Hwa! Whad (what) are yuu (you) shtaring (staring) at me for… (chew) (chew)… ead (eat)! Ead!"

A small angry vein appears on Ryoma's head as he brushes away the rice on his nose, saying, "We would gladly eat mom's food if only you would eat quieter… and if you learn some table manners." Nanjiro stares and laughs at him, another batch of rice landing on Ryoma's head, making the Tennis Prodigy annoyed as hell. "Oi, oi… oyaji… don't you know that you're showering us with rice already?"

"I am?" Nanjiro asks innocently as he swallows another batch of lobster meat. He takes a steak with his chopsticks and chews them. He then notices Mikan staring at him with dotted eyes, looking as if she just saw something abnormal. Nanjiro swallows his food and says, "Mikan-chan! What are you hesitant for? Eat more!"

Nanako nods at her with a smile. "Yes, please, help yourself, Mikan-san. We prepared all of these foods for you. Just don't mind Ryoma's father… he's always like that. So, please, eat!"

Mikan beams warmly at them. "H-hai! I will!" Mikan then eats her rice and blushes as she thinks, _So delicious… I've never had rice this good before!_ She then secretly glances to her new family members. The calm and gentle Rinko-okaa-san… the friendly and warm Nanako-onee-san… the 'quite' childish and rude nobody-san (as indicated by Ryoma)… and her quiet but nice classmate and host brother Ryoma-kun…

_It's like I have a family now… _Mikan thinks to herself with another small smile, her cheeks turning scarlet. _I think I'm going to enjoy my six month's stay in this house… thank you for giving me a chance, Narumi-sensei!_

**After dinner…**

"Here, Mikan…" Nanako tells the 13 year old Sakura Mikan, handing her a cup of cold chocolate ice cream. Mikan takes the ice cream in her small hands and thanks Nanako for the hospitality. Nanako giggles and pinches Mikan's cheeks. "You're so cute… don't worry about it. Don't spill, okay?"

"Hai!" Mikan answers brightly, taking a spoonful of chocolate ice cream in her mouth, making her cheeks red with happiness. Ah, ice cream… when was the last time she ate one? Of course, nothing could ever beat her beloved howalons, but she can never say "no" to delicious ice cream. "Thank you, Nanako-onee-san!"

Soon, Mikan finds herself walking around the house while eating ice cream, humming a tune. As she walks through the hallways outside, she spots Ryoma's father sitting lazily reading a magazine. Being the curious Mikan as she already is, she walks nearer without making the slightest of sounds, Nanjiro not noticing her.

_I wonder what he's reading. He's been holding that book for quite a while now… _Mikan thinks to herself. With her cup of ice cream in one hand, she kneels down behind Nanjiro and starts to read the contents of the magazine quietly. _What the--?!_

"Hey, Ryoma's dad, what's a –beep-?" Mikan abruptly asks with a confused and curious tone of voice, making Nanjiro yell out in surprise.

Nanjiro starts to shake with fear as he turns around and backs away a few steps with his hands. He points his finger to the puzzled Mikan and asks, stammering, "W-w-w-where did y-you c-c-come from?! D-Don't sneak behind me just l-like that!" Then he narrows his eyes and asks quietly and suspiciously, "A-anyway… h-how much d-did you read…?"

Mikan takes a spoonful of ice cream and replies with a smile, "Everything."

Nanjiro's jaw drops 24 inches as he stammers, "E-e-e-everything?! You read EVERYTHING?!" Mikan nods with a confused face, wondering why "Nobody-san" was panicking and looking as if a devil suddenly came to take him away. "S-Seriously…?"

Mikan takes another spoon of ice cream into her mouth and nods. "Yeah, I read everything, but I didn't understand it," the innocent Mikan replies. "That girl was trying to –beep- her –beep-, then another girl came all –beep-… and then she said, 'Hey, girl, wanna –beep-?' and I wondered what she meant by that… mou, some of the words didn't made any sense to me… especially the –beep-, -beep-, and why the two girls were so touchy touchy with their –beep-…"

Nanjiro stares at Mikan with a horrified face, fearing what will happen next… Mikan announced her statement with such a loud voice that it's not possible no one heard it. His wife probably heard it… his son probably heard it… and his niece, Nanako, his greatest enemy in the house, probably heard it… oh, goodbye, hentai magazines!

"So, so, so…" Nanako mumbles with a blank tone of voice, standing behind the shaking Nanjiro. Nanako crosses her arms and stares at Nanjiro with a sweet, yet suspicious smile. "You had nothing to do with your own life that you decided to teach our dear and sweet innocent Mikan inappropriate things… you're such a fatherly figure, Nanjiro-san. And as your reward for doing so, I shall confiscate your magazines."

"NO! NO! Do something else, like give me one meal a day or I'll sleep outside, anything but that!" Nanjiro exclaims, childish tears flowing, a dramatic theme song on the air. Nanako ignores his childlike whines and takes away his hentai magazine. "Give it back to me… NOOOOO!!!"

_H-Have I done something wrong? _Mikan thinks to herself with a sweat drop. _I think I should go to my room now… _Mikan thinks further, slowly walking away from the still-crying Echizen Nanjiro. _I hope he… recovers soon… from this… situation…_

Soon, Mikan opens the door to her bedroom and sighs to herself. Then, she looks up and smiles. It's been a very weird but fun day. It was really amusing how interesting Ryoma's family is, especially his dad who acts more like a child than a mature father… _but I guess that's what makes this family so unique! _Mikan thinks to herself.

Feeling tired all of a sudden, Mikan approaches her bed and lies down. She smiles at the softness of the bed and the warm comfortable feeling it gives to her. The one-star bed doesn't feel so soft like this! Ah, it must be nice to be a part of the Echizen's household.

Soon, Mikan's eyes slowly goes down, getting heavy all of a sudden. Of course, since she's been exhausted since that morning (so many things happened like a cyclone), this is to be expected.

"I'm going to enjoy this Student Visit Program…" Mikan mumbles to herself, her consciousness slowly fading away. "Good night… everyone."

_Dear Grandpa,_

_The Echizen family is such a very nice family. The dad here reminds me so much of you, but please don't take it as an insult. Hehe! Don't worry about me here, I assure you that I am in good hands. Good night, Grandpa!_

_Mikan_

* * *

_**To be continued…**_

**So, what do you think? I know, I know… it's less funny… but I don't think I should put humor in every chapter since there should be serious moments, too… But, anyway, I hope you like it.**

**The other chapters would reveal the first nights of the other 5 Alice users. So look for it, everybody! I would also start a new story… soon… I'm sure you'll like it… well, maybe… but the new story will be on hiatus. I'm going to post it together with the 8****th**** chapter this Sunday.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! Criticisms are considered but flames are a no-no. Thanks!**

**REVIEW!**

**Your Magical Knight, PhoenixSwordsman**


	8. First Night others

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. All Rights Reserved to them. Thank you.

**Chapter 8: First Night (others)**

Okay, let's go four hours back in time. It was almost six o'clock in the afternoon; the sky was turning to a mild orange color as the sun retreated, giving the moon another chance to show itself to the world. This is the time of day where some students go home to rest, or have more fun by karaoke-ing. Well, if there is such a word. Let's pick the first option, shall we?

"Okaa-san, I'm home!" Satoshi Horio exclaims as he and Imai Hotaru enter his small but comfortable house. As Hotaru takes one step inside without saying a single word, Horio suspiciously thinks to himself, _This is it… from this moment on, I'm sure that Imai will rob our money… I have to go and warn Okaa-san and Otou-san that I was forced to bring a thief! I'm sure of it… that witch will ask another 500 yen per question… I'm sure of it!_

Soon enough, Horio's mother and father appear with a big smile on their faces, expecting Hotaru. "Oh, is this the girl? She's the one we're going to host, right?" Horio's mother asks, walking nearer to the black-haired beauty. She extends her hand and continues, "Good evening, what is your name, little girl?"

Blinking, Hotaru takes the mother's hands with her own and shakes it, as if meeting a business professional. "My name is Imai Hotaru, 13 years old," the Alice user introduces herself with a small smile, but in Horio's eyes, it was an evil grin ready to make them go to poverty. "If you have any questions regarding about me…"

_T-This is it! _Horio thinks to himself, his forehead sweating and his palms getting moist and wet. He secretly grits his teeth as he impatiently waits for the magical words that will reveal his 'money-greedy nightmare's 'true colors, her true colors that she only exposes to him and to her friends. _She's going to make us pay 500 yen… maybe even a thousand! Goodbye house! Goodbye rich memories! It was nice knowing you! Welcome debts and loans!_

"… Please just ask. I would answer anything anytime." Hotaru ends with another small smile, making Horio gasp in disbelief and surprise, to the point of almost making him faint right there and then.

_What the—?! What the hell… is she possessed or something?! _Horio thinks to himself, backing away in fright. Somehow, the smile the purple-eyed newcomer has on her face gives chills on his spine. She looks cute when she smiles, but that grin she has on her face… brrr! It looks so evil to him! _What the… I don't understand her! I thought she was going to be in her money-grubbing self, but what I see is… is… _

"Aww… you're such a cute angel…" Horio's mother coos, a light blush on her face as she pats Hotaru's ebony head. She turns to Horio and gives him a stern motherly look. "Now, Horio, I don't want you to be mean to Hotaru-chan here, you hear me? She looks very delicate and fragile… so you should be nice to her and try not to hurt her feelings!"

_Angel? Delicate? Fragile? Just in what aspect of her is like that? _Horio thinks to himself as he glares at the smirking Hotaru, who's currently showing him his IOUs behind his mother's back and a signboard saying there's hell if he doesn't pay up his debts and the "soon-to-be debts" of his family. _She's a demon… a devil… a money-greedy nightmare devil demon!!! SHE'S THE WORST!_

"Y-yes, o-okaa-san… I would willingly lend her a hand anytime… and make her feel at home…" Horio says between clenched teeth, stiffly taking Hotaru's hands with his own. Horio forces a smile and adds, "In fact… I'm going to take her to her room now…"

Soon, Horio leads Hotaru to her room in the second floors of his home without saying a single word. After some time, they stop in front of a random door. Horio turns to Hotaru and looks at her in the eye. "Ho…I mean, Imai-san," Horio starts, trying to sound respectful as much as he can. "I… know you're the type of person who would do anything for money, even blackmail me…"

"Yes, I am," Hotaru directly replies. Horio sweat drops as he thinks, _she's too straightforward…_

Horio clears his throat and continues, "L-like I said, I wish you wouldn't involve my family in your money strategies." He pauses to see Hotaru's reaction but, like any other time, Hotaru just stares at him blankly. Horio finally comes to the conclusion that whatever tactics he does, he'll never be able to convince Hotaru to stop bribing him. He opens the door to the bedroom as he sighs, "Oh, never mind… I—"

"Don't worry, I perfectly understand how you feel," Hotaru states with an emotionless tone of voice, surprising Horio, making him stop his footsteps. Horio turns his head and stares at Hotaru with wide eyes, as if mentally asking, _you do?_ Hotaru gives an evil smile and continues, "In exchange for not bothering your family, instead of them paying debts, you _will pay their debts_ plus your own debt. Failure to do so will result in something… horrible."

Horio stares at Hotaru with wide eyes of disbelief, anger, disappointment and most of all, shock. He knew that this Imai Hotaru is heartless, as in _heartless_, as in someone with a heart of stone, but he at least hoped that she still have a little goodness within her! Damn it, he and his loud mouth! Just when he thought he was wrong about her, she made his opinion about her even worse! … Well, it's not as if Hotaru cares about what he thinks…

"L-like what?" Horio mutters, swallowing hard. Somehow, once again, with that small smile on Hotaru's face, it looks as if something evil is going to happen. The ebony-haired 13 years old Alice user gives a small smile and shows him a picture book.

_This is going to be fun… _ Hotaru thinks to herself as Horio stares at the picture book with a red and astonished face, looking as if he is currently seeing something really embarrassing. _Sorry, Ruka, but I won't play with you anymore. I have another person to blackmail with…_

**Meanwhile, in the Kato household…**

"Achoo!" Ruka sneezes as he turns his head to the side, to avoid having the risk of his saliva to shower upon the food on the table, since his host family and he are currently eating their supper joyfully because of his awaited arrival. Ruka shakes his head a little roughly and puts a finger under his redden nose, thinking, _I wonder if someone is talking or thinking about me?_

Kachiro turns to his blonde-eyed friend with a worried look and asks in a timid voice, "R-Ruka-san, are you okay?" Ruka turns to him with an eager small smile and nods right back at him, calming the first year Seigaku student a bit. "T-That's good… I was thinking that maybe we didn't clean the house enough… are you allergic to dust, Ruka-san?"

Ruka eats some rice with his chopsticks and shakes his head. "No, I'm not allergic to anything, really," the blue-eyed Alice user replies. He turns to Kachiro's mother and father with another gentle and boyish smile and continues, "Thank you very much for agreeing to take care of me for the next six months. I hope I'm not being a bother to you."

Kachiro's father, who is a coach in an exclusive tennis club, laughs whole-heartedly and responds with a big smile, "No, no, we're happy to have you here with us, Ruka-kun." He turns to Kachiro with a big smile and adds, "Kachiro has been bugging us for a while to give him a younger brother… but what do you know, we got you instead." He turns to Ruka and smiles, "You know, Kachiro was so happy that we're going to host a student visitor. So don't be a stranger here. For six months, we're going to be your family."

Ruka holds his bunny tightly in his arms and gives a light blush. "Y-yes! Thank you very much!" Actually, Ruka never expected to have a family this warm and loving. Just yesterday, when Jinno-sensei announced the host's family's names so "evilly", he thought they were the kind of people who would bring terror everywhere they go. But Kachiro's family proved him wrong. They were actually good people, and were willing to help him adjust to this new environment.

_I… wonder if Natsume's host family is as warm-hearted as these people… _Ruka wonders to himself as he absent-mindedly eats his food. _I wonder if Yuu and the others are also okay... especially… Mikan… _Ruka puts down his chopsticks as he remembers the events earlier that day. Somehow, for a little while, he observed Ryoma's movements around Mikan, and, for some reason, he noticed that Ryoma was staring at her constantly.

_So this is what Natsume is afraid of… _Ruka thinks to himself, looking at the table as if it's the most alluring thing in the world right now. _I never expected that something like this is going to develop… and what's worse Is the fact that Ryoma is the one hosting her… not only is it possible for them to develop in the day, but also in the night, when Natsume and I can't monitor them… this is really getting complicated…_

Soon enough, after some wistful thinking, supper ended. Kachiro, being respectful and polite, walks nearer to Ruka and asks, "Ruka-san, are you finished eating?" Ruka nods right back at him. Kachiro smiles and quietly takes away Ruka's plate to be washed by Kachiro's mother. "You must be tired, Ruka-san. Why don't you rest early for today?"

Ruka shakes his head and protests, "No, I'm quite alright. I… I was wondering if there is anything I can help with in the household chores."

"No, please, don't worry, Ruka-kun," Kachiro's mother cheerfully calls out, glancing back as she is currently washing the dishes. "Let us handle the chores for today. Rest assured that we can manage everything." She then wipes her hand with a towel and turns to Kachiro, "Kachiro, why don't you lead Ruka to the guest room?"

Kachiro puts down the plates and dishes beside the sink and nods. He takes Ruka's backpack with him and smiles, "Please follow me, Ruka-san." Soon, they walk deeper into the house where the bedrooms were located. Kachiro opens the farthest door in the left and turns on the lights, revealing a medium-sized sweet-smelling four-walled room. "This is going to be your room. My room is just opposite to yours."

Ruka smiles back at him and then enter the room. "Thank you, Kachiro-kun. I think I can handle the rest by myself now. I'll just call you if I ever need anything." Ruka's timid but polite hose brother then nods at him and exits the room, leaving the blonde-haired Alice user all by himself. As soon as Ruka feels that Kachiro already left to the kitchen, the blue-eyed Alice user quickly runs to the window.

"I'm sure the report is done by now…" Ruka mutters to himself as he opens the window with both hands. He sticks his head outside to see his eagle flying in the sky towards him. He bites his lower lip as the eagle nears. He closes his eyes as he tries to speak with the animal telepathically. He nods as he mumbles, "I see… Mikan is safe… I'm very happy and glad about that… is there anything else?"

The eagle flaps his wings for a moment and then nears his beak to Ruka's ears. After a short while, Ruka's eyes widen in surprise as he gets the message the eagle is trying to tell him. "What the…" he softly mutters to himself, the heart beating loudly against his chest. "Ryoma… carried Mikan… on his back… on their way home…? Are you sure?" Ruka looks at the eagle and feels the wild bird nodding at him. Ruka then panics and quickly searches around for a paper.

"I have to tell this to Natsume!" Ruka whispers to himself, getting a small paper and a pen nearby from a study table. With sweating hands and the loud nervous beats of his heart, he quickly writes something on the small piece of paper.

_I can't believe it… _Ruka thinks to himself as he continues writing, his blue eyes focused. _I always thought that Ryoma is that kind of guy who wouldn't care about anything in the world except Tennis! Mikan being Mikan, I won't be surprised if he would start falling for her… and that's what we're here for, to avoid that kind of development… but in the first day… he already…_

Ruka makes a big sigh and then rolls the paper. He gets a ribbon from somewhere and ties the paper with it. He runs back to the window and then finds the eagle patiently waiting for him. Ruka gives a tight smile and impatiently puts the rolled paper in the eagle's feet.

"Go to Natsume…" Ruka commands with a cool tone of voice. "… and bring this paper to him. Don't come back without even bringing this report to him." As if understanding his master, the eagle flaps his back and sharply turns around, flying in the midnight dark sky. As the eagle's figure slowly fades away, Ruka thinks to himself, _this is getting bad…_

**Meanwhile, at Natsume's…**

We've already saw what was happening in the sides of Hotaru and Ruka, and for now, let us switch to what is currently happening to Natsume. In the Mizuno household, the family just ended supper. Although Natsume didn't really talk much during that time, since he was still pissed off that his match with Ryoma was interrupted and that he had to bear with the humiliation of being carried by Fuji, Katsuo's family welcomed the moody and quiet Alice user with open arms, concluding that his silent nature is just the result of his coming of puberty. Well, so much for that.

Natsume opens the door to his room with a sigh. He walks nearer to his bed and lies down, his ruby eyes staring at the ceiling. It was such a long; _long _day… so many things happened that it was unbelievable it took place in less than 24 hours. And he almost fought with Ryoma twice. _That bastard… I'm going to kill him someday… _Natsume thinks to himself as he glares at the ceiling.

_Tock! Tock! Tock!_

The raven-haired Alice user slowly sits up straight as he hears a faint knocking sound coming from his window. He jumps out of his bed and approaches the window cautiously. As he opens the window and set aside the curtains, he sees Ruka's eagle staring right back at him. Surprised, Natsume thinks, _Ruka's eagle…? Why is it here? _Soon, he notices a paper tied to the eagle's feet.

"Something from Ruka…?" Natsume wonders loudly to himself. He reaches out his hands and gets the paper from the eagle. As he unrolls it, the eagle flaps its wings and flies away, with the intention of coming back to its master. Natsume stares at its retreating back and then closes the window. He sits on the bed and starts to read the note, thinking, _Now what?_

_Natsume,_

_If you're reading this right now, that means you were able to get my letter. That's good. I just want to tell you something that __**migh **__infuriate you. Earlier, fearing Mikan's safety, I commanded my pet eagle to try to watch over Mikan for a while. A few minutes ago, the eagle came back and told me Mikan is finally sleeping. But he also added something that even made me nervous… read very well, Natsume… this is important…_

_My pet eagle told me that…_

As soon as Natsume finishes reading the letter, he slowly puts his hands on his lap with a _very_ angry frown on his face. Ruka just told him something unimaginable, something that even he, Hyuuga Natsume, was never able to do in his last 3 years together with Mikan. And that "something" was stolen by a certain Seigaku first year junior high student having the name "Echizen Ryoma".

Soon, Natsume senses his blood boiling inside him like molten lava, his heart pumping wildly against his chest. Before long, he feels a familiar emotion throbbing inside him, a certain emotion that he encounters every once in a while… even at Alice Academy.

Jealousy.

Natsume glares at the paper angrily as he crumbles it in one hand. He picks it up and then burns it with his fire Alice, muttering, "That bastard…" He grits his teeth as he thinks secretly to himself; _I'm REALLY going to kill him!_

**The next morning…**

Twenty-four hours have finally passed, and a new day called "Wednesday" has been showered once again. As the sun slowly climbs up to the azure-colored sky with howalons-look-alike clouds, Mikan enters her room with a towel covering her wet body, as she just finished taking a shower from a nearby bathroom. Good thing no one saw her exiting.

"At last… it's my second day outside Alice Academy!" Mikan cheerfully hums to herself as she shakes her head, the water from her wet hair splattering to different directions. _I wonder if I should wear my Alice Academy uniform. Hmm, I thought that we're going to wear the Seigaku uniform on the second day… or was it the third day? Oh well! Whatever happens happens!_

Mikan takes out her another copy of her Alice Academy Uniform from her backpack and puts it beneath the study table. Soon, she lowers the table to her lower part of the body as she puts baby powder on her chest and back. Unfortunately, because of her being busy trying to powder herself, she did not notice the knocking on the door.

"Oi, I've brought your Seigaku uniform," Ryoma calls out behind Mikan's door, his free hand knocking the hardened wood. Ryoma knocks three times, but there was no answer. _She must be in the bathroom, taking a bath… I'll just put this uniform on her desk or something. She'll notice it sooner or later._ Soon, with a sigh, Ryoma abruptly opens the door with eyes closed. As the door opens, he hears something drop to the floor, making him open his eyes.

In front of him, is Sakura Mikan, 13 years old, an Alice Academy student, with her upper body open and naked for the entire world to see and glorify. Ryoma widens his eyes as realizes that Mikan is not in the bathroom but in the room all along, getting ready to change, and her powder on the floor.

After a moment of silence and speechless staring, Ryoma's hazel eyes began to move. Mikan backs away, her arms not moving and not covering her chest in shock and surprise. Ryoma then examines Mikan from toe to head. Her small feet to the pink towel covering her lower body, to her flat stomach and finally to her… to her…

"Oh," Ryoma mutters in a low tone, a tint of disappointment in his voice (however was not noticeable), but loud enough for Mikan to hear. "… It's just flatlands."

Mikan, with dotted eyes, begins to shake terribly, her face getting redder and redder by the second. Why is it that these kinds of occurrences always happen to her? Natsume saw her panties many times in the past, and now, Ryoma was able to have a FULL and UNCENSORED view of her chest. And so, Sakura Mikan, 13 years old, realizes that to escape from this reality, she only has to do one thing.

She fainted.

* * *

_**To be continued…**_

**Wow! That was quite a long update… hehehe! So, yeah, here's the 8****th**** chapter everyone… I don't know if it was okay or not, but, whatever. My mind is filled with many things today, like our lessons in Geometry and the Chemists in Chemistry… my mind is filled with so many things!**

**Anyway, if you have time, view my deviantART site. It's in my homepage, so, just check it out if you want. To comment, you need to be a member of DeviantART… that's my reply to one of the reviews I received.**

**And also, may the soul of Chris Benoit rest in peace… waah! He was one of my favorite wrestlers! Can't believe he died…**

**PLEASE REVIEW! Flames are a no-no, Criticisms are considered. Thanks for supporting!**

**REVIEW!**

**Phoenix-Swordsman**


	9. A Small Reunion!

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. Since Ouran will be mentioned later in this fanfic, I also do not own it, but by Bisco Hatori. All Rights Reserved to them. Thank you.

**Chapter 9: **A Small Reunion!

It was a very unfortunate experience for Sakura Mikan as her host brother, Ryoma Echizen, was able to have a look at her not-so-beautiful flat chest due to her own carelessness. Luckily, Ryoma's mother, Rinko, heard a small thud in Mikan's room and rushed over to her new daughter, and, thus, helped her get ready while she shooed Ryoma out of the room. What a pervert.

"We're going out now, okaa-san!" Mikan exclaims happily as she and Ryoma exit their house, wearing a bright green Seigaku High uniform. The nullification Alice user really liked the uniform, since it's not as gloomy-looking like her Alice Academy one. She'll thank Ryoma for providing her one later.

Rinko lightly blushes at the 'okaa-san' part and waves Mikan and her son goodbye. "Goodbye, Mikan-chan, Ryoma! Take care and don't go home late!" Mikan nods at her and the two 13 year olds soon walk away to the streets. Rinko giggles and then turns around, but stops as she remembers something. "Oh dear…" the calm mother turns her head to the kitchen to see two bentos on the dinner table. "I forgot to give them their lunches…"

**Meanwhile…**

Mikan sighs to herself as they continue walking on the streets in complete silence, neither saying a word. The honey-haired Alice user looks down as she remembers the events earlier that morning, how she carelessly dropped her towel lower to the moment Ryoma came in and saw her upper body naked and uncovered.

_How embarrassing! I'm such an idiot! _Mikan thinks to herself with another groan, holding her bag tightly. _And I even fainted in front of Ryoma-kun! How pathetic is that? And I fainted naked! Waah, Mikan, you idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Hotaru was right… I'm such a fool! Mou, now I'll REALLY never find a husband in the future! My private parts were already exposed before my future bridal night! …Wait! What is 'bridal night' anyway?_

Feeling the awkward atmosphere, Ryoma glances towards his companion, the strange and really unpredictable newcomer, who is currently making strange faces all to herself. _She looks really troubled… _Ryoma thinks secretly, putting a hand on his chin, his lips in a thin line. _Is she really bothered about what happened earlier?_

"Oi, will you stop making faces to yourself already? It's an eyesore," Ryoma comments, turning around to face the nearly crying Mikan. Mikan blushes scarlet and glares at Ryoma angrily, obviously offended by his remark. "What make that face? It's not as if your chest was worth seeing. I bet that my pet cat has a better chest than you."

_What the… this jerk compared me to a cat?! _Mikan thinks to herself in disbelief, backing away one step. She can't believe it… sure, she admits that she doesn't have that much of an impressive chest, since she has yet to enter puberty, but to be compared to a cat?! _W-What an insult! _Mikan thinks to herself, clenching her fist. _HE'S JUST LIKE NATSUME!!_

Mikan crosses her arms and glares at Ryoma, saying, "Y-You jerk! How dare you! I'll never forgive you for that insult!" Ryoma then shrugs and turns around, walking away, leaving Mikan sulking all by herself. _H-He's ignoring me?! _The chocolate-eyed Alice user thinks in dismay. Mikan takes a deep breath and then exclaims loudly, "WELL! I'm sorry that I don't have eight breasts!!!!!!"

Ryoma stops in his tracks, his eyes wide. _What the… eight… breasts? _Ryoma asks himself, getting amused each passing second. He puts his arms on his side and then turns around to face the fuming Sakura Mikan. He gives her a blank look and then questions, "Did… I hear you right? Did you say… eight breasts?"

Blushing, Mikan looks away with a pout, crossing her arms in the process. "Y-yeah… what about it?" Mikan replies, stammering, her face getting redder. Ryoma just stares at her blankly. Mikan, getting tired of the awkward situation, faces Ryoma and exclaims with an irritated voice, "Why are you looking at me that way? Isn't the reason why you compared me to a cat is because I have two breasts instead of eight?! You can't blame me since I was born that way!"

The Tennis Prodigy stares at Mikan with two intense eyes that seem to be softening slowly. Sure, this newcomer that suddenly appeared in his life yesterday looks really dense and stupid, but… to actually misunderstand an ironic comment that easily… he never expected that a person like that actually exists in this world! Not only is she really unpredictable, but she's also naturally funny!

"Pffftt…" Ryoma mutters as he looks down, confusing Mikan. The dark-green-haired boy puts a hand on his mouth to cover his laughter, tilting his head to the side. No matter what, nobody must see him laughing… but… this girl, man, she's just too indescribable. "Pfffttt…"

"R-Ryoma-kun…?" Mikan mumbles softly, really confused of his sudden action. Soon, she sees Ryoma's shoulder trembling and shaking, alerting Mikan once again. _I-Is he coming down with something? _Mikan thinks to herself, backing one step. Then, Ryoma puts his hand down and looks up with an amused smile. _He… He's smiling… _Mikan secretly thinks.

"You're really an unbelievable girl…" Ryoma remarks as he smirks, turning around, as his back faces the confused chocolate-eyed girl. He walks away and continues, "No wonder that idiot of a friend of yours is overprotective of you. I guess he just doesn't want to share that innocence of yours."

'_He'? Who is Ryoma-kun talking about? _Mikan wonders to herself once again, not getting the statement at all. Well, this is to be expected. Nobody can ever imagine Mikan being smart, although she can get Bs in a test if she studies hard enough like hell. Soon, Ryoma and Mikan continue on walking, since Seigaku High isn't really that far away… just a small walking distance.

"Hey, Ryoma-kun…" Mikan starts with a small smile. Ryoma grunts in replies. "How come you never called me by my name before? You see, since yesterday, you never termed me by my name… when you call out to me, you say, 'Oi!'… Given that we are friends, don't you think you should stop this oi-calling and call me by my first name?"

Without stopping, Ryoma finally replies, a hand in his pocket. "If that's what you want… okay." Mikan smiles brightly and nods. "But… what's your name again?"

Mikan turns to stone as she hears Ryoma's question. What the hell… they've already been talking for the last 24 hours, had dinner with the family, slept in the same roof, and the jerk _**forgot**_her NAME?! Yesterday, she thought that Ryoma was a nice guy, but he's actually starting to get worse than Natsume!

_At least 'polka-dots' is better than a 2 letter word called 'oi'! _Mikan thinks to herself, trying to control and suppress the growing irritation within her. With a big sigh, she responds, "It's MI-KAN. Sakura MIKAN, 2 syllables, 5 letters!" Then she looks away and pouts. "Mou… you're so mean… to forget my name just like that!"

Ryoma smirks to himself as he looks forward, not bothering to glance at the pouting 'Mikan' behind him. Then, putting both hands behind his head, he says with a gentle tone of voice…

"Mikan." He pauses and glances behind him, turning his head around, his hazel eyes staring at two beautiful chocolate orbs. "It suits you."

_W-what the… _Mikan thinks to herself as she unexpectedly blushes to herself. Soon enough, Mikan's heart starts to beat faster, as if it's in another race. Putting one hand on her chest, Mikan thinks, _W-What is this feeling… it's the same feeling I had… when Natsume called me by my name for the first time before back in Alice Academy during the Christmas Party… _she looks up and stares at Ryoma's back as they continue walking to school, neither speaking another word.

Mikan closes her eyes tightly as she scolds herself, _Stupid heart, calm down! Don't explode in my chest! Mou, what's happening to me?_

But, because Mikan isn't watching where she's going, she unfortunately bumps into somebody, causing her to land on her butt. "Ow!" Mikan exclaims as she falls down, her hands on the cement floor. She opens her eyes and rubs her back, saying, "Ouch, ouch… that hurt…" she looks up and yells, "What did you do that… for… Natsume?"

In front of her is Hyuuga Natsume, who is currently wearing the Seigaku uniform, staring down at her. Mikan quickly remembers the events yesterday afternoon, then, as if the pain from the fall instantly faded away, she stands up and asks excitedly, "N-Natsume! Good Morning! Are you fine now? Did you get a lot of rest? Please don't push yourself too hard!"

"Yeah, I'm fine," the ruby-eyed boy replies with a cold tone of voice. "Next time, watch where you're going… If I saw correctly, it's blue polka dots this time… Geez, you're so old-fashioned… your sense of clothing dates way back in the 1940s."

Mikan gasps in disbelief and puts her hands on her hips, not believing what she just heard. Her, having a poor sense of clothing especially when it comes to underwear? The nerve! _These panties were actually given to my by my grandfather, you know! _Mikan thinks to herself angrily. _They were from my grandmother!_

"You saw them again, didn't you?! You pervert, I can't believe you peeked!" Mikan accuses, pointing a finger. "Don't expect me to let you off that easily!"

Natsume rolls his head and puts one hand in his pocket, as his other hand is holding the school bag. "Idiot," the raven-haired Fire caster retorts. "You were to one who fell down with your skirt flying. You're the one to blame. Besides… it's not as if your panties are even worth seeing."

Mikan flushes deep red as she was insulted for the second time that day, by two different people with similar personalities. Natsume and Ryoma… it's like fire and fire, and both were able to see her private parts in different times! Geez, why is it that it _always_ happen to her?! It's so unfair! Since they were able to see hers, she also has the right to see theirs!

_Wait a minute… WHAT AM I THINKING?! _Mikan scolds herself as she realizes what she just thought, blushing deep red. _Yuck! I don't want to see their private parts!!! Mikan no Baka!! Don't think such green thoughts! Eww!_

"Hey, Mikan, what's keeping you behind? You're such a slowpoke," Ryoma calls as he walks back to fetch Mikan, since he realized just a while ago she wasn't behind her. As he nears, he sees his rival, Hyuuga Natsume, together with the energetic auburn-haired Alice user. Ryoma pauses in his tracks and smirks. "Oh. It's you."

Natsume feels his blood boiling at the mere sight of the pest with the name 'Echizen Ryoma'. Remembering Ryoma's actions yesterday as described in Ruka's letter, the ruby-eyed boy glares at Ryoma and says dangerously, "Already calling each other with the first name, huh?" Natsume turns to Mikan and narrows his eyes. "Since when did you two become so close?"

"What are you talking about? Ryoma-kun and I are friends! Of course he can call me with my first name!" Mikan snaps back, looking away with a pout, wondering why Natsume is so uptight when Ryoma's around. Then, at the corners of her round eyes, she sees a slim guy wearing the Seigaku uniform hiding behind an electricity post. _He looks like Katsuo-kun… _Mikan thinks to herself.

"Hey, can I leave you guys for a while? I'll just be going somewhere for a minute!" Mikan tells Natsume and Ryoma as she runs off toward the Katsuo-look-alike person, not even thinking that leaving Ryoma and Natsume could result in something really terrible. "Don't leave me, okay?"

Soon, Mikan approaches a certain electricity post and finds Katsuo hiding behind it, softly trembling in fear. "Katsuo-kun? What are you doing in there?" Mikan asks suddenly, scaring the lights of the poor Seigaku student. "It's me, Mikan!"

"A-Ah, Mikan-san!" Katsuo exclaims, wiping away the sweat falling from his forehead with the back of his hand. "I'm glad it's just you… I thought it was Natsume-san…"

Mikan tilts her head to a side and repeats, "Natsume?" She turns around to look at the other two and finds them talking. _They must be getting to know each other better! _Mikan thinks to herself stupidly. Then, she turns to Katsuo and asks, "Why? Are you scared of Natsume? Did he done something to you?"

Katsuo swallows hard and shakes his head. He jumbles his fingers and replies, stammering, "A-Actually, n-nothing happened b-between us…" He swallows hard again as he remembers the events that happened earlier that morning. "I-It's just that, when I t-tired to wake him up, he looked so s-scary, with evil aura around him and with d-demon like eyes…"

_That's Natsume alright… _Mikan thinks to herself with a sweat drop.

"That's no surprise, he gets low blood pressure in the morning like me" a familiar voice says behind them. Katsuo and Mikan turn around to see Hotaru wearing the green Seigaku uniform with Satoshi Horio behind her with a bandage on his cheek. He probably got hit by Hotaru's Horse Shoe Glove.

"Hotaru!" Mikan exclaims happily. Then she asks, "Hey, what do you mean by 'low blood pressure'?"

Hotaru blankly stares at her best friend and replies, "It occurs after a change in body position, typically when a person stands up from either a seated or lying position. There are cases that when you meet a low-blooded person early in the morning, they'll be really grumpy." Then, she smiles evilly as she turns to Horio. "Like what happened earlier… this idiot woke me up 5 o' clock in the morning, rambling about 'jogging to get fit for tennis'. Since I'm grumpy in the morning, I punched him with my Horse Shoe Glove. Naturally, the pain would fade away after a few more hours."

Horio glares at her as he thinks: _what a demon… Yeah, that's right… what's wrong with jogging in the morning anyway?! Based in my two years of tennis experience, jogging is the perfect way to get fit! Damn Imai!_ Then he flinches as his cheek hurts. _Ouch!_

"A-Ano, Imai-san, can I ask?" Katsuo starts, swallowing hard. "Is… Is your blood type by any chance… AB?"

Hotaru's amethyst eyes glows as she turns to the trembling Katsuo. "Yes, you're perfectly right." She gives a small and evil-like smile as she continues. "Indeed, my blood type is AB."

Katsuo then backs away in fright as he continues to stare at the strange, mysterious and demon-like Imai Hotaru. _She's low-pressured… and she's an AB person… she… she…_

"Hey, are you alright, Katsuo-kun?" Mikan asks as she confusedly gazes at Katsuo, who is currently backing away with a feared look plastered on his face, his one hand holding a cross next to his heart. Mikan being curios like always takes away the cross Katsuo is holding and examines it. "Hey… why are you holding a cross like that? Hotaru isn't a vampire!"

"Y-you have it all wrong, Mikan-san!" Katsuo tries to explain as he hides behind the auburn-haired girl with two pigtails while Hotaru smirks at him. "I was wrong… Imai-san is more fearful! She has low blood pressure especially in the morning… and to top it all of, her blood type is AB! T-That's more d-dangerous than N-Natsume-san!"

Mikan scratches the back of her head and asks loudly, "Why? Even though we have different blood types, we're all the same!"

Katsuo roughly shakes his head. Then, he leans closer to Mikan and whispers in her ear, "Since Imai-san have low-blood pressure sickness in the morning and is an AB, it means that… that… that… that she has the same blood type of Kyouya Ootori of Ouran High School Host Club, the Low Blood Pressure Demon Lord!!"

Hearing this, Mikan gasps in fright as she asks with a panicked look, "REALLY?!" Then, she puts a hand on her chin as she wonders out loud, "Wait a minute… who's that?"

"Everybody… what are you doing here?" Another familiar voice calls out behind them. Everybody turns around and sees their class representative, Tobita Yuu, walking together with Ryuzaki Sakuno. Then, they notice that Yuu is also wearing the Seigaku uniform, which unexpectedly made him more 'manly-looking'. "Ah, Mikan, Hotaru, the uniforms looks good on both of you!"

Hotaru gives a small smile and replies with a somewhat mocking voice, "You too, Iinchou (Class representative). You look less gay."

Yuu fakes a laugh as he adjusts the glasses that compliment his golden eyes. "Ha, ha, ha… thank you, Hotaru… I'll take that as a compliment…"

"Anyway, where's Natsume-san and Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno starts, looking around her with her two brown eyes, noticing that almost everybody are present except for the two personality-alike rivals. Well, she considers them as rivals since she noticed Natsume has a strong dislike for her crush, to which she is still wondering why. She'll never guess that Mikan was the reason.

Mikan raises her hand and then answers, "I was with them just a while ago… I left them for a while since I thought I saw Katsuo-kun hiding in the shadows." After saying her statement, all eyes are on her, disbelief and surprise visible in each and every one of them. Mikan backs away and asks, "W-what? Why are you looking at me that way?"

"You…" Yuu starts, his sweat starting to fall, his palms getting moist and wet. "You left them… together… alone?"

"No way… please say no…" Horio continues, a hand rubbing his swollen cheek, his eyes also displaying incredulity. "You CAN'T leave them all by themselves together!"

Mikan, confused, shrugs and tries to defend herself, "B-but why not?" She looks down as she frowns to herself. "They have the right to be friends, right? I mean, I'm sure that this very moment, they're smiling like pals and are getting to know each other!" She looks up and sees everyone looking at her as if she's crazy. "W-why? Don't you trust them?"

Yuu adjusts his thin glasses once more and swallows hard. "It's not as if we don't trust them…" he explains slowly, getting nervous each passing second. "But… you do remember how Natsume _hates_ Ryoma, right?"

Katsuo walks forward and comments, "Ano… just earlier, I thought I heard Natsume whispering to himself about killing Ryoma… I think it was just my imagination, though…" Soon, all eyes are on him. He swallows hard and backs away as he exclaims, "S-So, it wasn't my imagination, after all?!"

"Idiot," Hotaru sighs to herself, her purple eyes still void of any kind of expression even in this awkward atmosphere. "You should've said so earlier…" She turns around and says, "If my instincts serve me correctly, I say we should go and check up on them."

"Mou, why do you doubt both of them?" Mikan asks loudly with an irritated voice, wondering why these kind of people distrusts Natsume of befriending Ryoma. Sure, they almost fought yesterday, but what's in the past is in the past! Don't everyone forgive and forget? And Natsume isn't the type of person who would actually attack someone… right?

Then, she turns around and runs to where she left Natsume and Ryoma, exclaiming, "Let me show you! I'm sure they're friends already, telling jokes with each other or are talking about tennis or something!" With hesitation, the rest of the group follows her, but stops as they see Mikan stop on her tracks. Mikan swallows hard as she mutters with a hoarse voice, "… why?"

In front of them is Hyuuga Natsume, his head down and his right hand in the form of a fist, specks of blood visible on his knuckles. On the cemented floor is Echizen Ryoma, his lips leaving a trail of red blood, his cheeks swollen.

There had been a fight.

_Dear Grandpa,_

_Sorry for not mailing you earlier, but there is something more important than that! Natsume hurt Ryoma-kun… again! And I thought they were finally coming back to their senses and would be friends! Grandpa, what should I do?_

_Mikan_

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Okay! The 9****th**** chapter! Sorry for not updating a few days back… school's been REALLY hectic and I've been having tons of homework and projects… Imagine, making an Egyptian Burial Mask worn by Pharaohs… the heck?! Anyway, here's your much awaited chapter… sorry if it just bored you to death…**

**Thanks for the kind reviews, everyone. Please also visit my DeviantART site, I've uploaded another drawing… haha! Well, if you're interested in visiting, why not? No harm done, right?**

**PLEASE REVIEW! I would DEEPLY appreciate it. A little inspiration keeps me going. Criticisms are allows, but flames are a no-no.**

**REVIEW!**

**Phoenix-Swordsman**


	10. The Third Party!

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. All Rights Reserved to them. Thank you.

**Chapter 10: **The Third Party!

The morning started cool and sunny. Everybody was greeting each other a "good morning" with a smile on their faces, students were happily walking to school with their friends, and birds were eagerly waiting for the worms to come out from the soil. It was just an ordinary Wednesday morning, the sun giving out rays of light that were rich in Vitamin D. It started out usually… well… let's make "this" Wednesday an exception…

It was already the last period in the morning in Seigaku High, and, ever since the incident earlier that morning, Mikan was ignoring Natsume entirely out of anger and disappointment. On their way to school previously, her raven-haired friend punched her host brother, the Tennis Prodigy Echizen Ryoma, on his cheek. Until now, she still doesn't know why.

Mikan stares at the blackboard filled with notes of the teacher in discussion with a pouted face. She looks down at her blank notebook and thinks secretly, _that Natsume… what is he up to, anyway?! Punching Ryoma-kun like that… _She sighs as she quietly glances to Ryoma, who is taking down notes in silence with a bandage on his cheek, covering the scar Natsume gave him.

_Ryoma-kun… I wonder if he's alright… _Mikan thinks to herself again, obviously concerned for the dark-green-haired boy beside her. Also, ever since that incident that occurred earlier that morning, Ryoma didn't speak to her at least once. The auburn-haired girl glances back at the blackboard and thinks further, _I'll ask Ryoma-kun if he's angry at me later at lunchtime…_

Soon enough, the boring History lesson about the Tokugawa Period ended five minutes later, as if answering Mikan's call. Students from Class 1-B starts to get their lunches and walk out the door, going either to the cafeteria or to some other places that are suitable for eating lunch. But let's focus on to the main characters.

Mikan, with a big sigh, turns her head sharply to Ryoma and asks, "Ryoma-kun, are you—"But, alas, before she could speak any further, she noticed that Ryoma is already gone and the seat beside her is vacant. The Alice user bites her lower lip in disappointment as she look down to the floor sadly. _I guess… he's mad at me…__I can't blame him… I should've never left him and Natsume alone in the first place…_

_**Growl…**_

Mikan blushes as she feels her stomach growling. _I forgot… I didn't take breakfast earlier because I fainted… Well, I'm sure okaa-san made lunch for me! I'll just think about Ryoma and Natsume later!_

With a small smile, the 13 years old chocolate-eyed Alice user picks up her cute flower-designed backpack the Echizen family provided for her and opens it. She puts out a few of her notebooks and then, stares at the empty backpack. _That's strange… where's my lunch? _Mikan thinks to herself. _It's not here… haha! Mikan, what are you thinking? That's impossible! Okaa-san surely put it in here! Something must be wrong with my eyes!_

Then, with another smile, she puts in her notebooks into her backpack and puts it down. She sits up straight on her seat for one minute and picks up her backpack again. She opens it and puts out her notebooks and stares at the empty backpack, no sign of her bento anywhere. She puts her notebook back and in 30 seconds pulls it all out for the third time, and when she notices that her bento is still and _really_ not there…

"WHAT?! You mean, MY LUNCH ISN'T REALLY HERE?!" Mikan exclaims to herself with a panicked look, ignoring the growling of her empty stomach. She opens her backpack wide to make sure that her bento isn't really there. As she studies it further, all she discovers is an ant relaxing. Disappointed, Mikan sits down with her shoulders down. _How come it's not in here? Mou, I'm sure Ryoma is eating the lunches all to himself right now…_

"Sakura-san, are you okay?" a familiar voice asks behind the auburn-haired girl. Turning around, Mikan comes face-to-face with her good friend Nogi Ruka, a fellow student of Alice Academy. In his arms is his usual bunny, and his eyes contains the usual concern for her.

"Ruka-pyon!" says Mikan with a small smile. But, before she could greet further, her unfilled belly growls out loud, making both the 13 year old Alice users blush. Well, Mikan blushed out of embarrassment, and Ruka turned red because he thought it was cute. Mikan giggles awkwardly to herself and scratches the back of her head. "Hehehe… I… didn't eat breakfast, and I kinda… forgot my lunch…"

Surprised, Ruka answers, "You didn't eat anything? That's bad, you should eat…" Then, the blonde-haired Alice user (who is also wearing the Seigaku uniform) puts out two bentos and hands one to Mikan with a small smile and a light scarlet blush. "Here, Sakura-san… I have two, so let's share. Do you want to eat with me at the rooftop?"

Mikan stares at her good friend with surprised eyes. _R-Ruka-pyon… _she thinks to herself as she continue to gaze at her blue-eyed friend. Somehow, her opinion about Ruka increased… _He's a really, really, REALLY nice guy! _Then, she gives a very bright smile and nods back, taking the bento with her own small hands. _You're an angel in disguise, Ruka-pyon!_

Before Long, Ruka and Mikan enter the rooftop, and for some reason, nobody was eating there, so, it was a good opportunity for them to be alone and talk about a few matters here and there. Picking a good spot that somehow lets them see a great view of the city, they sit down and start opening their Japanese lunchboxes.

"Wow, it looks so delicious!" Mikan smiles to herself happily as she stares at the beautifully arranged food that Ruka gave her with stars in her eyes. She takes her chopsticks and pulls them apart and then exclaims with a wide smile, "Itadakimasu!" Soon, she gladly takes one and chews it in her mouth with a light blush. She glances beside her and sees Ruka looking at her with a different look. "R-Ruka-pyon? Is there something on my face?"

Ruka shakes his head furiously with a blush and looks away, replying, "N-no, I'm sorry if I stared at you like that!" He quickly takes a shrimp from his bento and puts it in his mouth, still flushing. _What was I thinking, staring at Sakura-san like that! I hope she doesn't hate me now! _Ruka thinks as he swallows his food.

Mikan looks at him and secretly gives a smile. _Ruka-pyon is so innocent… _she thinks to herself as both of them eat their lunch quietly under the blue sky and the flying birds. But, even though she currently tastes sweet and delicious food, the incident earlier that morning still can't get out of her mind. The scenes are replaying over and over again like a broken tape.

"Hey, Ruka-pyon…" Mikan starts as she puts down her chopsticks. Ruka turns to her with a questionable look. The chocolate-eyed looks down and asks, "You and Natsume are best friends, right? You've known each other for a long time, right?"

Startled by her question, Ruka gawks at Mikan with his wide blue eyes. He doesn't really mind the question literally, but it really seemed too sudden, especially at a time like this. "Y-yeah, I guess you can say that we are the closest of friends…" Ruka replies as he finishes his bento, thinking, _Gochisosama (A/n: Kind of a "thank you" for the meal… correct me if I'm wrong!)…_

With a hopeful look, Mikan puts down her unfinished bento and crawls beside Ruka, making the poor boy flush deep crimson with the sudden action. "Then that means you know Natsume the best, right?" Mikan continues to ask with a relieved smile. Ruka swallows hard and nods back. The auburn-haired 13 years old girl then looks up the sky and continues, "So, tell me, Ruka-pyon… what do you think is Natsume's opinion of Ryoma?"

"E-eh?" Ruka mumbles with another surprised look, wondering why Mikan is asking such unexpected and sudden questions that he is the most hesitant to answer. But because this is Mikan he's talking to, he doesn't have the heart to ignore her inquiry just like that. "Why do you ask, Sakura-san?"

Mikan rubs her cheeks with one finger and softly responds, "I'm just wondering… it seems that Natsume hates Ryoma, even though Ryoma never did anything wrong to him. It pains me because Ryoma is my friend, and Natsume is also my friend, and they're fighting with each other. I don't understand it, Ruka-pyon!" With a desperate look, she turns to Ruka and takes his hand with her hand, Ruka taken aback. "Do you know why, Ruka-pyon?"

Startled, Ruka feels his heart beating fast against his chest. Right now, at this very moment, the girl he loves is holding his hand, gripping it tightly with her own. He could feel Mikan's soft and flawless skin against his, and it's driving him crazy. _Calm down, Ruka, suppress your emotions… at least for now… _Ruka scolds himself. _Satisfy Mikan's doubts first…_

Not pulling his hand away, Ruka swallows hard and answers, "This is my opinion, S-Sakura-san, but I think that Natsume just wants to protect something or someone important to him…" he looks up and sees Mikan widen her eyes. He looks away and continues, "Natsume… Natsume lived quite a harsh life before you arrived, Sakura-san… he was the type of person to never trust anybody wholeheartedly… before you arrive, Natsume's life was centered on both of us and his missions…"

"He was a quiet and moody person, never really talked much…" Ruka continues as Mikan's grip on his hand loosens. "In Alice Academy, he would frequently skip classes and just want to be alone… a type of guy like that… doesn't really know how to openly express his feelings." Ruka remembers Natsume's harsh childhood and sadly smiles. "At least half of his life right now was spent struggling and fighting… I guess he uses acts of violence to express how he feels because that's the only method he knows how… He may also be doing it unconsciously, thinking that what he is doing is the right way."

Ruka looks up and smiles as he continues, "Natsume is a really nice person once you get to know him, Sakura-san… but as of the moment, he is just a confused and lost soul, yearning and longing for the light to comfort and encourage him and to help him fight the darkness overwhelming him. Judging from his actions these past few years, Natsume may have found the light that will stay beside him as he continue fighting the obstacles he's encountering and most of all, himself…" He turns to Mikan and adds, "So, you can't really blame Natsume for acting that way, Sakura-san. For Natsume… no, for both of us, we feel that the light we want to stay beside us may fade away soon, and we are trying our best to protect it from going astray…"

"But… what does it have to do with Ryoma-kun?" Mikan asks, hurt. "I'm happy that both of you want to protect that 'light'… I think that whoever this 'light' is to both of you, when he or she learns that both of you are protecting him or her, she or he will be very pleased… But… why go far hurting Ryoma-kun?"

"Maybe…" Ruka starts, looking down to the cement floor, a gust of wind passing by. "… Ryoma-san is after that light, too?"

Mikan widens her eyes as she finally lets go of Ruka's hand. "Eh…?" she mutters to herself. "Ryoma-kun… is after that light?" She shakes her head and exclaims, "Tell me, Ruka-pyon, who is this light?"

Ruka blushes to himself as he finds himself in a very difficult situation. He can't just blurt out that Sakura Mikan herself was the sole reason a very chaotic and messy love triangle is going on, now that he partially confessed he wants to be with the 'light', too. That would be too embarrassing, and surely, it would just confuse the cheerful auburn-haired girl in front of him.

"Err… for some reason, we don't know who ourselves," Ruka answers awkwardly, making Mikan confused. "Let's just call it… err… men's intuition?"

"What…?" Mikan mutters, dumbfounded. "Men's intuition? There's something like that, after all?"

_She truly is dense… but… _Ruka thinks to himself as his heart thumps faster as he gazes at Mikan's confused look. Sakura Mikan… a girl that appeared in his and Natsume's lives three years ago, who seemingly looks stupid and dense, but strong-willed and kind, is their light. A light that would surely bring happiness and peace into their lives with her bright and cheerful smile and that would help them ease their troubles. Sakura Mikan is surely a one of a kind.

"Please… don't trouble yourself trying to find out who we are trying to secure," Ruka smiles gently as he says this. "There is one thing I will assure you, though… Natsume and I won't give up, never in any circumstances. We will continue to protect and watch out the most important person in our lives… but never blame Natsume for his actions towards Ryoma, Sakura-san. That is just his way of protecting someone…"

Mikan looks down with a sad look. Judging from the way Ruka describes things, it seems that Natsume and her blonde-haired friend is really determined to put down everything that comes in their way. She can never compete to that, but she doesn't want Ryoma-kun to be hurt just because they think he may be after their 'light'. She is really grateful for Ryoma considering all he has done for her… for making her ride on his back, for letting her stay in a wonderful and comfortable household, for giving her a father, mother and sister… to just let things slide as if it's nothing would be too thoughtless of her…

"If that's the case…" she starts as she stands up. "… I just have to protect Ryoma-kun, right?"

Ruka stares at her, shocked. "Protect Ryoma-san? But why?"

Mikan gives a small smile and answers, "Don't get me wrong Ruka-pyon… it's not the same like yours and Natsume… I don't see Ryoma-kun as my 'light' or anything, although his Tennis Moves are awesome, it's just that, I'm really grateful to him…" She gives a peace sign and grins. "I'm not stopping you from letting go of that important person, instead, I'm rooting for you! I only want to make sure that you two would settle this problem of yours in a calm manner and that you won't lay a harmful finger on Ryoma! You'll never know… you might be wrong about him!"

_No… we're not wrong, Sakura-san… _Ruka thinks to himself. _We're positive… that Ryoma is falling for you… it may not start now, nor it may not show that soon, but it will be before long… I'm sure of it…_

"I guess what they say is really right… if you open up your problems to other people, you'll feel recovered!" Mikan exclaims with a happy smile. She lightly blushes as she continues, "Talking to you made me feel a whole lot better, Ruka-pyon! For some reason, a huge weight has been pulled off my shoulders, and plus, I was able to know and understand more about you and Natsume! Thank you!"

Ruka blushes crimson as he hears this statement. This wasn't really unusual… Mikan frequently thanked him for every positive thing he has done for her, but, for some reason, this 'thank you' is much more sincere and heartfelt. He could feel that Mikan is really grateful for him.

"And by the way, thanks for the lunch!" Mikan laughs as she waves an empty bento in front of the blue-eyed boy. Somehow, she finished the bento without him noticing it. "You really saved me! I forgot to eat my breakfast earlier and for some reason, my packed lunch is nowhere to be found! I thought I was going to die from starvation!"

_You really won't die that easily, Sakura-san… _Ruka thinks again to himself as he sweats drops, really amused at Sakura Mikan's innocence and naivety. This is what he really likes about her… her cheerfulness and natural innocence that seems to shine wherever she goes and whoever she talks to. He really likes her…

"Sakura-san… may I call you 'Mikan'?" Ruka suddenly asks. Mikan turns to him with a surprised look. Finally taking notice of what he said, the Animal Pheromone Alice user covers his mouth with his free hand as he blushes deep red. He awkwardly laughs and quickly takes back what he said, "N-no, what was I thinking? Y-you don't have to agree if you don't want to, Sakura-san! Just forget what I said!"

After a short silence, Mikan takes his hand and gives a really bright and cheerful smile. "What are you talking about, Ruka-pyon? Of course you can call me Mikan! Any good friend of mine can call me that!"

Ruka blushes once again at this but feels a slight disappointment with the term, 'friend', _Friend, huh… _he thinks. Then, he brushes that thought away and turns to the positive side. _That's fine for now. _

With a sincere smile, Ruka, although hesitantly at first, takes Mikan's hand and kisses the spaces between her fingers with his soft lips. He looks up and gives another gentleman-like smile and continues, "Mikan… thank you." _For being you… for being yourself… for being not only Natsume's light, but also mine… _he finishes in his thoughts.

_**Doki. Doki.**_

Mikan remembers the familiar feeling in her chest as she stares dumbfounded by Ruka's sudden actions. _W-what is this feeling? It's the same when Ryoma mentioned my name earlier… _she thinks to herself as she feels her cheeks getting hot. She shakes her head and gives a bright smile. "Let's go back, Ruka-pyon!"

Ruka smiles back and nods. "Yes, let us."

_Dear Grandpa,_

_Have you ever experienced the feeling of your heart getting really crazy all of a sudden with three boys? Okay, girls in your part, but have you? Mou, I'm feeling it now, Grandpa… not only to Natsume, but to Ryoma-kun and Ruka-pyon, too! Is this a part of puberty, Grandpa? If that's the case, I don't want to enter puberty! It's making me confused!_

_Mikan_

**Meanwhile…**

While Ruka and Mikan eat on the roof, Hotaru, Yuu, Sakuno, Tomoka, and Horio stayed in the classroom to eat their lunches. They didn't bother going to the cafeteria as they're positive it'll only get crowded with flocks of people, so, they just decided to eat in their four-walled learning room with less people.

As Hotaru eats some crab meat, which is really unbelievable since she brought at least a dozen of them that made the others wonder how she was able to bring it in the first place, the purple-eyed Alice user turns to Horio and orders with a blank tone of voice, "Bring me some water."

Horio looks up from his seat and glares at his money-greedy nightmare, retorting, "Why should I? Bring your own!"

With that reply, Hotaru's eyes suddenly gleams like a diamond. She then pulls out a picture book from her bag and says, "If you don't bring me water, I'll spread all of your baby pictures all over the school." Horio flinches at this as his shoulders suddenly drops. With a small smile, Hotaru adds, "You don't want that to happen, right?"

"DAMMIT! Alright already!" Horio exclaims angrily as he stands up and runs to the door towards the direction of the cafeteria. "Dammit, dammit! Damn Imai! Where did she get those pictures, anyway?!"

Tobita Yuu sweat drops at the particular scene that happened in front of him as he swallows his food. "You're still as evil as ever, Imai…"

Hotaru turns to him with another small and 'evil-like' smile and replies, "Thank you, Tobita."

Yuu sweat drops again as he thinks, _That wasn't a compliment…_

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**Hey there, everyone! Sorry for the late update! As you can see, we have a lot of projects coming up… like to make a comic strip of Sir Percival's life, one of the Knights of the Round Table in King Arthur's Legend. We also need to do lots of things, like Miniature and among many others… so, I may update only once a week. I terribly apologize.**

**I appreciate all those who are supporting me, but please do not ask me to update faster because I'm updating the fast as I can. I should only update once every two weeks, but I'm actually sacrificing my time to reach your expectations. I hope you understand.**

**Please review! It's an APPRECIATION for my hard work… come on, just a few words here and there won't hurt, right? Even a few inspiration keeps me going… if I know that there are people reading this story, more reason to continue it.**

**Criticisms are considered, but flames are a no-no.**

**REVIEW!**

**Phoenix Swordsman**


	11. First Project: Baby Egg!

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. All Rights Reserved to them. Thank you.

**Chapter 11: **First Project: Baby Egg!

It was finally the last period of the day, which was Homeroom. It was four o' clock in the afternoon, and homeroom takes at least 30 minutes of the time, ending the classes at 4:30. Well, although Homeroom's the first period in other schools, it was different in Seishun Gakuen or, commonly known as Seigaku. As they say, "dare to be different". But that's not the case.

The day was soon ending, and Echizen Ryoma, Sakura Mikan's host brother, is still not talking to the poor chocolate-eyed Alice user. If it's because he's angry, or he just wants to be quiet, nobody knows. This was to be expected, since it's always been Ryoma's habit to be a silent and secretive guy, having his thoughts only to himself.

"Good afternoon class!" Tsujimoto happily greets as he enters the classroom with a blue record book in hand. The students of Class 1-B exhaustedly replies back. Well, it was a really long day, and they're really not in the mood to be in a happy disposition like their adviser. "What, you're not happy to see me?" Tsujimoto-sensei jokes as he puts his record book down.

Tomoka raises her hand with an angry frown. Tsujimoto nods at her and the Seigaku student promptly stands up and exclaims, "Tsujimoto-sensei, may I request a transfer of seats, please? Its fine anywhere as long as I am at least 3 meters apart from this freak with the name Yome Kokoro!"

"Transfer of seats? But why?" Tsujimoto asks with a questionable look on his face. He shrugs and adds, "What's wrong with your guest, Tomoka-chan?"

"Do you need to ask why?!" Tomoka grumbles loudly as she crosses her arms. Beside her is the ever-so-happy Yome Kokoro, who is busy reading the mind of his fellow classmate who's in front of him with his ever-so-freaky smile plastered on his face. Tomoka stomps her foot and turns to the embarrassed Yuu, "Oi, Tobita! I thought you said the magic trick Koko bought in the internet only lasts 24 hours! Don't tell me the expiry date extended?!"

Speechless and quite embarrassed, the class representative of Class B in Alice Academy just lowers his head as he adjusts his thin glasses with one hand. He puts out a large textbook and hides his head, as if saying he doesn't know how to respond to the question. Well, it IS true. Nobody will believe him if he elaborates the fact that Koko has an Alice that allows him to read people's minds. That is just so far-fetched. And Jinno-sensei also told them to keep their Alices a secret.

But Koko… man, he just doesn't know when to shut up.

"He indeed is… quite unique, Tomoka-chan," Tsujimoto replies with an awkward smile. "But… in his profile, it was clearly stated that he _**is**_harmless to mankind, so he won't do anything bad. Besides, you're the only one who can keep up with him, as your other classmates are freaked out. Bear with it for six months, okay, Tomoka-chan?"

"SIX MONTHS?! Are you crazy, Tsujimoto-sensei?!" Tomoka exclaims with disbelief, not believing she is hearing such things. She angrily points to the oblivious Koko and continues, "Don't you know that all he did last night was just read the minds of my family?! On our way home, he was reading my mind, during supper, he was reading everybody's minds, and even when he was already asleep, he was still reading everybody's minds even though all of us were rooms apart! IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY! Is that even HUMAN?!"

"Maybe he's an alien from outer space!" Horio theorizes as he tries to think stupidly, but, alas, his seatmate, the ever-so-money-greedy Hotaru Imai punches him with her horse shoe glove. Everybody stares at the flying Horio with a large sweat drop on their heads. "WAAAHHH!! MOMMY!"

Natsume closes his eyes as he stays silent amidst the crazy happenings inside the four-walled room. For Pete's sake, why must he be in a room of idiots? He thought that normal people would be, well, normal, but they're actually in par with his Alice classmates in terms of noise and other things. Nothing really changed, except the fact that he's ready to kill someone with the name "Echizen Ryoma" right now.

_Damn that bastard… _Natsume thinks to himself as he continues to close his eyes and try to distance himself from the noise going on. _He got what he deserved when I punched him earlier… that guy… if only I can burn him with my Alice right now, I would!_

Natsume clenches his fist as he tries to remember the events that happened earlier that morning…

**FLASHBACK **

"_I heard that you carried Mikan on your way home yesterday…" Natsume starts with a cool tone of voice as Mikan runs to the other side of the streets. Although he's saying it calmly, he's really getting angry inside. He just can't stand the sight of Ryoma's face. Natsume crosses his arms and narrows his eyes as he asks with a dangerous voice, "Was that true?"_

_Ryoma smirks and puts a hand in his pockets, a morning breeze passing through his dark-green hair. "Hmp. And so what if that's true?"_

_Natsume feels a nerve snap inside of him as Ryoma gives off a mocking-like aura. Oh, how Natsume just wishes to make Ryoma experience hell's flames right now. "You bastard…" Natsume mutters angrily as his hand takes the shape of a hard and powerful fist. "I warn you, Echizen… stay away from her."_

"_Sorry, but…" Ryoma responds coolly, putting a hand behind his dark-green hair. He gives a conceited lop-sided smile and continues, "… I don't remember seeing your name on her, Hyuuga. And besides, I'm not going to steal her away from you, so don't get so hot-headed. And it's not as if you own her." He pauses and looks down. He smirks and adds quickly, "Mada Mada Dane."_

_Natsume pushes his fingers deeper into the skin of his palms as he coldly retorts, "Don't kid with me, Echizen!" He glares at the Tennis Prodigy and darkly continues, "You better not involve yourself with Mikan… you and her are just too different. Whatever plans you have in your sleeves, you can never have her. Although she's an idiot sometimes, she's in a level higher than you. Even if you want to, the world would never let you have her!"_

"_Who says I want that girl, anyway?" Ryoma sarcastically snaps back. "I don't have the time of day to actually waste my time in doing something so unbeneficial. I won't gain anything from stealing that flat-chested girl away from you."_

"_Flat-chested? Did you –" Natsume starts with a tone of disbelief, his eyes slightly widening. _

_Ryoma turns to him and then smirks again. "Oh, that's right, I saw her chest, full and uncensored." The hazel-eyed 13 years old boy, who seems to be enjoying provoking the raven-haired Flame user, asks, "Are you jealous?"_

_Not taking the comments and unforgivable insults any longer, Natsume loosens his grip of his bag and charges against Ryoma. With one hand, the ruby-eyed boy takes and pulls Ryoma's shirt while the other free hand positions itself high in the air with a fist, as if ready to punch the Tennis Prodigy._

"_Oh, did I hit a nerve? Sorry about that," Ryoma mutters sarcastically, smirking, as if not caring that Natsume is ready to strike him anytime. "If you really do want to slap me, or beat me, do go ahead." Ryoma then relaxes himself, with no intention of fighting or struggling back. He tilts his head to the side as if welcoming the upcoming blow and mockingly says, "I want to know how much you hate me, Hyuuga, how much you really want to defend Mikan from me."_

"_Bastard!" Natsume exclaims angrily, really getting provoked by Ryoma's endless insults and mockeries. "I'll __**really**__ show you!" With igniting flames inside him, Natsume hardens his fist and punches Ryoma on his cheek, ignoring the pain he received from neither his strike nor the stains of Ryoma's blood on his knuckles._

_After Natsume's swift swing of his arms, Ryoma falls to the ground, a trail of blood appearing from his mouth. He hits the cemented floor, his cheek getting swollen and painful. With a trembling hand, he touches the pained cheek, frowning._

"_Is this how much you hate me, Hyuuga?" Ryoma asks with a soft tone of voice. "Is this how much you want to protect her?"_

_Natsume, with uneven breaths, puts his hand down and angrily responds, "That's right… so if you know what's good for you, stay away from Mikan… no matter what."_

_Ryoma puts both of his hands on the hard ground and shakes his head. He smirks to himself, his dark-green locks shadowing his face, making the expression on his face unreadable. "Interesting…" he smirks. "You aroused my interest, Hyuuga… Maybe, I'll try to find out myself why you want to protect her this much… Remember, Hyuuga… I might take back my words…and accept your challenge in the future."_

**END OF FLASHBACK**

_That bastard… I don't know what he's up to… _Natsume reflects to himself as he opens his eyes and stare at the green blackboard in front of him. If he was in Alice Academy, he would just skip class and sleep below a certain Sakura tree, but now that he's in a normal school, he can't do those kinds of things anymore. _And I have to make sure that Echizen doesn't do anything weird to polka-dots…_

Tsujimoto laughs and claps his hands, signaling the class to be quiet. "Okay, that's enough, everyone! Enough with the transfer of seats issue, and please, Imai-san, put that gun away."

Hotaru turns her blank amethyst eyes to their homeroom teacher and blinks. "It's a Baka Gun, sensei… I was just about to shoot Horio with it. May I?" Tsujimoto sweat drops at this and roughly shakes his head, hoping that something as disastrous as that won't happen in his classroom. Hotaru blinks for the second time and obediently puts it away from eyes' reach, making the others wonder where the hell she got it in the first place. _I'll just shoot him later… _Hotaru thinks to herself with an evil smile, making Horio anxious to have to witness it.

"Okay, let's start class!" Tsujimoto cheerfully exclaims, punching a hand to the air. The students sigh in response. "You know, I was watching a cartoon the other day, and they did something that gave me an idea for your first project in Homeroom! The Baby Egg project!"

"Baby…" Kachiro starts, arching an eyebrow.

Sakuno tilts her head to the side with a questionable face and continues, "… Egg…"

"PROJECT?!" every student yells in disbelief, not believing that their happy-go-lucky teacher would think of such an outrageous and childish thing for a quarterly project. Alas, for the second time that day, the students of Class 1-B had gone amok. Seriously.

"Tsujimoto-sensei, did you hit your head with a brick lately?! What do you take us for, ELEMENTARY STUDENTS?!" Tomoka exclaims angrily as she quickly stands up from her seat, her hands straight on her desk. "We're already in Junior High, for crying out loud! Can't you think of a more mature project for us than to have that kind of project?! Baby… Egg… AAHH! You really lost it, sensei!"

"Baby Egg Project?" Mikan repeats with a confused face. Ah, as usual, Mikan does not know about these sort of things, but also neither the other Alice Academy students. Back in their old school, projects are much more dangerous and harder, and, sometimes, just impossible to complete, depending on your Alice ability. Mikan smiles and exclaims, "It sounds fun! Let's do it!"

Hearing this, everyone turns to the too-energetic auburn-haired pigtailed girl with blank eyes, astonished that there's someone who would actually want to have that kind of lame assignment. "What are you staring at me for?" Mikan pouts to herself. "I think it's a fun project, so there!"

Tsujimoto-sensei grins and claps his hands again, signaling the class to tone down the sudden uproar. "Then, it's decided, everyone!" The students of Class 1-B then grumble to themselves, wondering why they're stuck with such a project. "I'll now discuss the job! This task aims all of you to have a better relationship with your friends and peers through the method of taking care of an egg which will represent your 'baby'. This will also test how much you know how to take care of something! And oh yes, this project will not be done individually, but by partners!"

"Who'll be our partners, Tsujimoto-sensei?" Katsuo asks as he raises his hand. He really doesn't mind the project like the rest of his classmates. He's the type of person who would go for easy ones than to deal with the harder and complicated ones. Well, as long as his partner isn't the scary Natsume, he'll be fine. "Can we choose?"

"No, you can't," Tsujimoto replies as he gives wide smile. "In this class, we have four columns and five rows. In each column, there are 10 students, 2 by 2. Concluding, your partners will be your seatmates!"

Soon enough, the jaws of Tomoka, Horio and Katsuo drop 24 inches as they realize that their partners are the people they least want to be involved with. For Tomoka, she got Yome Kokoro, her worst mind-reading nightmare, as he read minds for 24 hours… For Horio, he got Imai Hotaru, a money-greedy girl who wants money for every damn thing… for Katsuo; he got Hyuuga Natsume, whose ruby eyes look like daggers that could pierce your heart or fire that could burn you to ashes.

_NO WAY! _Horio, Katsuo and Tomoka think to themselves with a dark face._ Of all people, why is it that we have to team up with those kinds of people?!_

Mikan bites her lower lips as she glances to the quiet Ryoma, who's currently staring beyond the window. She's really excited about this project, but to be Ryoma's partner in taking care of an egg… it sounds so… let's say… impossible. Plus, until now, Ryoma is still not talking to her, whatever his reasons may be. _So much for having a better relationship… _Mikan thinks to herself.

"Without further ado, tomorrow, I will give all of you an egg to be taken care of. In the egg is a device that will measure your 'love' and 'care' given to it. In one week, I will grade your progress that depends on the results the egg will give. In that week, you must NOT break it, or else you will automatically fail this project," Tsujimoto continues as the class quiets down. "Well, since this is a 'baby' we're talking about, the partners who are boy and girl will be termed as 'husband and wife'!"

Katsuo swallows hard and raises his shaking arm. Tsujimoto see it and nods at him. "A-Ano… s-sensei… w-what if y-your partner i-is a…b…b… boy? It c-can't be h-husband and w-w-wife, right?"

Tsujimoto puts a hand on his chin and wonders out loud, "Good question, Katsuo-kun… if there are circumstances that you're a boy and your partner is a boy, well, just deal with it. Pretend you're a gay couple or something, or one of you will be the husband, and the other will be a wife… something like that. Don't worry, Katsuo-kun! With Natsume, you look like a girl, "

Katsuo then looks down with a scared face. Him? Husband and wife? With NATSUME? What is the world coming to? That's totally impossible! Natsume doesn't even talk to him that much! How can he be in sync with such a lonesome boy who looks like he's ready to kill someone? But, before that, what is with this Husband and Wife System, anyway?!

"If you're wondering about the Husband and Wife thing, I have an answer to that!" Tsujimoto happily exclaims. "Everyday, I'm going to give handouts elaborating what the 'husband' and 'wife must do to the egg in a certain time. The egg is programmed to receive such actions and if failure to do so will decrease your points. It's really fun, isn't it?"

Horio rolls his eyes as he hides his face behind a large book, saying, "I say it's rather complicated… and why is it that my 'wife' is Imai-san? Mou…" He sighs and puts his book away and glances to his quiet seatmate, his amethyst-eyed 'friend' who's currently reading a technology-something book.

For a short while, Horio tries to study Hotaru's facial features. Her cold yet beautiful purple eyes. Her cute and small nose that seems to compliment the shape of her face. Her flawless skin that holds no scar. Her silky short black hair… in the outside, she looks just like a lonely angel.

_I… I guess I don't mind having Imai-san as my partner or wife… _Horio thinks to himself with a light blush, a finger scratching his cheek lightly. _Imai-san is pretty cute… if she wasn't so money-hungry, she could've been popular among the boys…_

"What are you blushing for, idiot?" Hotaru snaps at him as she puts away her book. "Gross. It makes me want to punch you with my Horse Shoe Glove."

Horio looks away with an awkward smile and thinks with a sweat drop, _On second thought, she is so NOT cute… I take back my words…_

Katsuo swallows hard as he turns to the quiet Natsume, who seems not to be paying attention to the project. Man, oh man, Katsuo really is in it now… the day he's been fated to be Natsume's host brother was the mark of the beginning of his misfortunes. For sure, they'll fail this simple task of taking care of a programmed egg… but… there may be hope…

"So… ano… H-Hyuuga-san…" Katsuo stammers as he talks to the raven-haired boy beside him. Natsume turns to him with an uninterested look. "D-Do you want to b-be the dad… o… or the… the… m-mom?"

"Do I have to choose?" Natsume asks with a bored tone, getting a manga from his bag. Katsuo swallows hard and nods. Natsume flips a few pages to the right and replies, "Dad. If you don't like being the mom, you can be a dad, too."

"A-Are you implying… w-we're going to pretend… a-as a gay couple, Hyuuga-san?" Katsuo asks with a scared voice, trying to inch away from the ruby-eyed boy. Natsume turns to him with another blank look and then shrugs. "I-I'll just be the mom… then…" Natsume nods in reply and continues reading his manga. Katsuo turns around and makes the sign of the cross, thinking, _Scary, scary, scary…_

Mikan sighs to herself as she observes the other students discussing the project to their seatmates. All seem pretty excited since there was some sort of twist to the assignment, but, in her situation, she and Ryoma are not talking to each other. It also looks like Ryoma is not interested at all, as he continues to stare at the window.

"Ano… Ryoma-kun…" Mikan starts as she nervously calls out the name of her host brother. The hazel-eyed Tennis Prodigy then diverts his attention from the sky to the chocolate-eyed Alice user, making Mikan surprise and her heart beat fast. "Are… are you mad at me, Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma sighs and puts his hand behind his dark-green head. He pauses for a while and responds with an emotionless voice, "If I were mad at you… we wouldn't be able to complete this project, right? Since we're partners…" He looks away as Mikan gasps.

"Really? You're not mad at me? Not at all?" Mikan asks excitedly, tears forming in her eyes. Ryoma looks at her and does not reply back. Mikan blinks and then the tears slip her cheek. "I'm… I'm really happy, Ryoma-kun! I thought you were mad at me so I was scared! Really, really scared! I thought that I wouldn't be able to enjoy my stay here if you're angry at me! Uwa, I want to smile so much but my tears keep on going! Mou, I'm really happy I can't help but cry!"

"You're really… an idiot," Ryoma mutters to himself as he looks away, staring back to the window, looking beyond to the sky where a group of birds are heading towards the horizon.

_Dear Grandpa,_

_Waaah! I'm so happy, grandpa! Ryoma-kun isn't mad at me! I'm so happy that my tears keep on going! I'm really weird, aren't I, but I just can't help it! We also have a project, about taking care of an egg… it sounds so simple compared to the ones we get from my other school! Keep on cheering for me, Grandpa!_

_Mikan_

_**To be continued…**_

__

* * *

__

**Yosh, that's my 11****th**** update. So, what do you think? Sorry for the long no update… I'm really, really, really busy you know… with lots of projects coming up… I hope you understand!**

**Please review! It's a sign of appreciation for my work, okay? Flames are a no-no while constructive criticisms are considered and welcomed.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Phoenix-Swordsman**


	12. A Day at the Park!

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. All Rights Reserved to them. Thank you.

**Chapter 12: A Day at the Park!**

It was already 3 days (Saturday) after Tsujimoto-sensei assigned the Baby Egg Projects to the students of Class 1-B, a rather much easy-turned-complicated task of taking care of an egg which will represent the baby of two students; either the partnership is a boy and a girl or a boy and a boy or a girl and a girl. If your situation is the option in the middle, the gods pity you.

But before we continue on to the story, let us find out more about the project being given. As Tsujimoto-sensei had stated in the last chapter, inside an egg is a device that is capable of measuring the 'love' and 'care' given to it. The 'love' and 'care' being talked about here are the actions that should be executed that are elaborated on the handout Tsujimoto gave to the students 2 days before. Failure to do in any of the actions involved will automatically decrease the group's points. Of course, the egg has an installed sensor in it so it can detect such acts. One failure -2 pts. If the egg is happy, it will shine a red color. If it's sad, a faint yellow one, if it's angry, it will shine a green one and it will shine violet if it's impatient.

Even though the eggs are made of modern technology, like any ordinary chicken/duck/goose/whatever egg, it can easily break into shattered pieces if you're not too careful. Now, since that the project is properly explained, let us continue on to the story.

It's already 8:30 in the morning, and the Echizen family just ate a healthy breakfast of Japanese foods. Sakura Mikan, a 13 years old girl with warm chocolate eyes and auburn-like hair, walks inside her room wearing a pink spaghetti-strap dress her Nanako-onee-san gave her a few days before. The happy-go-lucky girl looks around and finds her egg on a soft cushion with a matching white sheet over it.

"Good morning, Aoi-chan!" Mikan greets happily to the quiet egg (as if it'll talk) as she opens the curtains to make the room bright with a light scarlet brush. She walks to the egg and then picks it up, exclaiming, "With a nice Saturday like this, we should go to the park and play to our hearts content!" Saying this, the egg turns red, making Mikan flush. "You like that, don't you, Aoi-chan?"

"What a coincidence… it's stated that we should bring him out to a park and let him lie down on a sandbox or something…" a familiar voice says behind the bubbly 13 year's old Alice user. Mikan turns around and sees Ryoma leaning on the door wearing a red with blue strips shirt and faded blue jeans holding the handout with one hand. Ryoma looks at her and then reads out loud, "'Go to the park at 8:45 A.M. and have your baby egg play on a sandbox. Caution: Do not put out under the sun for too long for fear it might turn into a roos—"

Pausing, Ryoma stares closely at the handout for a while and then closes his eyes with a sigh, not bothering to continue any longer. "Let's go," Ryoma says as he turns around, his hands on his pockets, thinking _Stupid Tsujimoto… I don't know if he's serious or just joking around…_

"Where are we going?" Mikan asks as he carries their baby egg on her arms, making sure that their Aoi-chan won't slip from her loving embrace. "Are we _really_ going to the park?"

Ryoma rolls his eyes and continues walking out to the door. "Of course… unless you want our points to decrease, we can just sit around here and gawk at nothing…" he sarcastically remarks as he and Mikan exit their house towards the street. He hears Mikan giggle at his reply and then thinks to himself, _I'm scolding her and she's laughing… there are actually that kind of people in the world._

"Look at our baby, Ryoma-kun!" Mikan exclaims happily as they cross over the street. She picks it up with one hand and shows it to the dark-green-haired Tennis Prodigy. "Isn't she so cute? So shiny and so white!"

"You talk as if it's really our baby…" Ryoma mutters to himself with a low tone as they walk nearer to the park. Ever since the day Tsujimoto-sensei gave them their assigned eggs, Mikan had been seriously acting as a mother. A childish mother at that, but that was to be expected. Of course, he, the Tennis Prodigy Echizen Ryoma, can't actually keep up with her pace and just let the Alice user do all the work except when he's needed as detailed by the handout.

Well, Ryoma doesn't really mind his noisy partner. It's been a while since he was able to see someone this cheerful and optimistic. And, of course, this way, he'll be able to make his rival, Hyuuga Natsume, jealous and heated. Seeing a cross look on the already crossed-face raven-haired newcomer makes Ryoma feel excitement in every part of his body.

And no, this isn't yaoi or shonen-ai, so if there are any circumstances out there, please do not think such "male-to-male love!" thoughts.

At last, the two of them finally enter the park which was filled with children playing in the playgrounds, couples having lovey dovey moments, and joggers… well, jogging, what do you expect? Ryoma and Mikan walk toward the playing field without saying a word, just a smile on the Alice user's lips. Of course, this is the first time Mikan ever got to visit the park, since she was always in the house every time they go home from school.

"Here!" Mikan happily smiles as she puts down their Aoi-chan on a sandbox, much to the surprise of the other children also playing there. The bubbly auburn-haired girl gently wipes their baby egg with her handkerchief and lightly places it in a location quite near from the confused Japanese children. Mikan turns to them and asks, "Can you play with Aoi-chan? I think she wants to play with you!"

The Japanese kids look at each other with a puzzled look, thinking if this woman is crazy or something, asking them to do such an outrageous and childlike act. First of all, why would they play with an egg? Eggs are used for cooking, not for playing!

"Onee-san, why are you talking to your egg?" asks one black-haired Japanese child with the age of 7, who was just making a sandcastle out of the sand. "Are you putting it here in the sandbox to roast it under the sun? I think the kitchen is more fit, onee-san."

"W-why would I cook Aoi-chan?" Mikan asks with a terrified look, quickly taking their baby egg in her arms, as if protecting it from someone dangerous. Seeing this, a sweat drop appears on each of the children's heads. Mikan points to the watching and bored Ryoma and exclaims loud enough for the world to hear, "This egg… no, Aoi-chan is my and Ryoma-kun's baby!"

Soon enough, it seems everything in the world stopped moving. The kids look at the determined-faced Mikan with blank looks. The other children stop moving and turn to her. The couples' blush at her remark and are even considering having a baby, too. The joggers, who were, well, jogging, stop their morning exercise to stare at the dense and oblivious chocolate-eyed 13 years old girl, who just yelled out she's the mother of an egg.

As for Ryoma, well, he, too, was surprised with the sudden outburst of his partner. He never expected that she'll go as far as to tell the whole world something as embarrassing at that. Soon enough, Ryoma finds himself surrounded by criticisms among the crowd.

"What a disgraceful girl, exclaiming to already have a baby with a boy…" a mother whispers to another woman, staring at the unaware Alice user. "They're still too young… good grief, children these days don't know how to control their urges… they at least could've used contraceptives!"

_It's just an egg, woman… _Ryoma thinks to himself, sarcastically replying to the comment in his mind. _Humans don't give birth to eggs… does she look like a freaking bird to you?_

"Onee-san, you're crazy!" one child snickers as he puts a hand over his mouth to cover his laughter. "An egg couldn't possibly be your baby… ha! Ha! Ha!"

Mikan blushes deep red at his remark. _H-how rude! _The orange-named girl thinks to herself as she hugs Aoi-chan tighter. She opens her mouth to fight back verbally, but is interrupted when Ryoma holds her other free hand. Mikan turns around and mumbles, "R-Ryoma-kun?"

"Don't mind them, let's go somewhere else," Ryoma nonchalantly tells her. Mikan hesitantly nods and follows him to somewhere else, her hand still being gripped by the hazel-eyed Tennis Prodigy, much to the murmurs and whispers of the crowd behind them. "Idiot, you shouldn't shout unnecessary things like that in front of so many people. It would make you look bad."

Mikan stares at Ryoma's hand holding against her own and blushes scarlet red, replying, "Y-yeah… thanks, Ryoma-kun." As they walk on further, Mikan thinks to herself, _Ryoma-kun's hand… I didn't know it would be this warm… _The chocolate-eyed Alice user giggles and then smiles secretly.

Soon enough, they find a bench that is quite far from the playground. As they sit down, they notice Hotaru and Horio together with Natsume and Katsuo, Ruka and Kachiro approaching. Mikan stands up and waves her hand high in the air, "Everybody! Here! Here!"

Ruka looks up and sees Mikan waving and smiling at them. "Mikan!" he exclaims loudly. Almost immediately, he notices Mikan is wearing a very cute pink dress that somehow makes his crush much cuter and appealing to the eyes. _So… so cute… _he thinks to himself with a slight blush.

Natsume glances to Ruka and thinks; _He's also calling polka-dots by her name… _he puts his hands to his pockets and continues, _well… I really don't mind… _Then, he notices Ryoma sitting on a bench near Mikan. Natsume frowns at this and thinks to himself angrily, _that bastard… what's he doing so near to Mikan?_

"Ah, Mikan-chan, Echizen! So you're here, too?" Horio says as the group nears, his one hand behind his brown head and the other holding a small basket with his and Hotaru's egg on it. "What a coincidence! The handout said we have to put our egg on a basket and take a walk! And then we found Kachiro and Katsuo and then decided to go to the park and then we found you here!"

"What a bother…" Ryoma mumbles as he looks away with a bored look plastered on his face. "This project is so annoying… instead of practicing Tennis for the Ranking Matches next week, I'm stuck babysitting an egg and got myself humiliated, too…" Mikan turns to him with an apologetic face, her façade filled with guilt. Ryoma sees her changing mood and then sighs. "Well… I guess it's alright… for now…"

"Hmm… I smell something fishy…" Hotaru, wearing a white dress with sunflower designs with a matching white hat, emotionlessly mumbles as she looks at Mikan and Ryoma. Horio looks at her and chuckles. Then, out of nowhere, Hotaru pulls out a Baka Gun from her pocket and then pulls the trigger three times at Horio.

_**Baka! Baka! Baka!**_

"AHHHH! NOT AGAIN!" Horio exclaims as he flies a few meters away, surprising and scaring away some of the kids playing there. Horio awkwardly sits up straight with stars on his head. He roughly shakes his head and angrily yells to the purple-eyed brunette, "Damn you, Imai! Do you really need to punish me for every thing I do?! And how did you put that Baka Gun in your pocket, anyway?! And don't just shoot me with that, don't you care about our EGG?!"

"What about our egg?" Hotaru coolly replies and she pulls up her right hand, revealing the basket with their egg safe and sound and uninjured from any casualties. Hotaru looks at her with a surprised look, wondering how she got the basket from him. "And I shot you because you were about to comment that maybe I smell something fishy because I have the monthly period girls my age usually experience…" she gives a small smile and adds, "… right?"

_H…How did she know? _Horio thinks to himself with a scared and dark face, trying to inch himself away from the more-terrifying-than-Inui's-juice girl in front of him. _And besides… isn't that something you shouldn't say casually in public?!_

Hotaru then turns around and faces the Sakura-Echizen pair and asks, "Let me guess… something happened between you two… right?"

This caught Natsume and Ruka's attention. Many days had passed since their arrival in Seigaku High, and it seems that Ryoma's and Mikan's relationship have developed. If yesterday they were only acquaintances, they're friends now. And if anything should happen between the two that would result into love or any like-like circumstances… there will be hell to pay.

Mikan remembers the commotion she caused earlier by saying that she and Ryoma-kun have a baby and then blushes to herself. "N-nothing really happened!" she stammers, not convincing her three Alice friends. Mikan turns to her partner and asks, "R-Right, Ryoma-kun? Nothing happened right?"

Ryoma scratches his cheek with one finger and replies with a bored tone, "Hmm… maybe… maybe not…" He glances to his left and sees Hyuuga Natsume secretly glaring at him. He sees this as a chance to provoke the ruby-eyed newcomer and then adds, "… but… we did hold hands."

_WHAT?!?!?! _ Mikan, together with the Ruka and the others, well, except for the emotionless Hotaru and the moody Natsume, think to themselves with a shocked look, practically stepping back because of shock. Ryoma observes their reactions and gives a conceited lop-sided smile. _Ryoma… held hands… with MIKAN?!_

"Echizen… you're finally becoming a true man!" Horio exclaims with tears of joy as he takes one of Ryoma's hands with his own, a happy love song on the air. "A while back, you looked so serious about Tennis that I almost thought you were going to marry your tennis racket and have many little tennis balls as babies… but… but… hurrah! You're now entering the stage of puberty! Alleluia! Alleluia!"

"Don't you think we should stop Horio from overreacting too much?" Kachiro whispers to his good friend, Katsuo. "People are staring at us… it's so embarrassing I almost want to say that I don't know him…"

Katsuo nods but replies back with a smile, "True, true… but Horio indeed is right…" he turns to the infuriated Ryoma and continues, "Ryoma-kun in the past few days have been so absorbed in playing tennis that it seems he doesn't have time for anything else… a few romance here and there won't hurt, right?"

Kachiro stares at Ryoma and then says, "But… Ryoma and romance… it… doesn't quite fit… don't you think?" He scratches the back of his head and continues, "I mean… it's just well, weird, and I'm not used to it… I'm used to seeing Ryoma-san getting serious and playing Tennis almost everyday, and imagining him saying 'I Love You' to a girl… is… quite… far-fetched…"

"In short," Katsuo awkwardly laughs. "… it's kind of comedic? Ah, let's just see what happens next…"

Mikan turns to the smirking Ryoma and then blushes deep red herself. "Mou, Ryoma-kun, you didn't have to say that we held hands! A-Although we did held hands earlier… but, but, but!" Mikan cups her cheeks and exclaims, "It's so embarrassing! You didn't have to say it out loud!"

Hotaru puts a hand on her chin and gives a small smile and says, "Interesting… something is really developing here…" the brunette turns around and faces the quiet and almost frowning Nogi Ruka, a fellow Alice user with golden yellow hair and blue eyes. "So, what are you going to do now, Nogi? It seems that someone else beat you and Natsume to it."

"Stop teasing me, Imai-san… this is a very serious matter," Ruka darkly replies, obviously not in the mood for any kind of jokes. Hotaru stares at him with slightly surprised eyes. In these kind of situations, Ruka would just usually stay quiet and observe or just smile whole-heartedly. But now, a different kind of aura is enveloping around him. An aura that is somewhat similar to a very angry raven-haired Alice user right now.

Natsume glares at the smirking Echizen Ryoma in front of him, both of his hands on his sides, one hand holding his and Katsuo's egg. His ruby eyes are flaming because of anger and jealousy as if when someone will look at him in the eye, they might burn because of his fiery gaze. Somehow, that hazel-eyed Ryoma seems to enjoy making him mad.

_That bastard… _Natsume thinks to himself as he clenches his teeth. _Do you really want to die that much?! _Soon enough, his hands starts to tighten and forms the shape of a fist, making the egg in his other hand to shatter to pieces, making the egg yolk splatter all over the place with the device installed in it.

"Ah," Hotaru starts, her finger pointing to the smashed egg, getting Katsuo and the other's attention. "It broke."

"NOOO! OUR EGG!" Katsuo exclaims with a fearful look as he tries to stop Natsume, but, alas, cowardice prevails, as the poor boy steps back when he notices the visible angry aura surrounding his partner. The slim boy then turns around with tearful eyes, chanting, "Hyuuga-san… angry… scary… egg… broke… to pieces… grade… failed… hope… gone…"

"Ah, it seems you automatically failed the project, Hyuuga… congratulations," Ryoma sarcastically smirks, putting both of his hands behind his head. Natsume looks up and gives him a dark glare. Ryoma looks away and comments, "That's why people shouldn't let their emotions get the better of themselves… like jealousy, for example." He gives another arrogant smirk and says, "Mada Mada Dane."

Natsume arches an eyebrow and then quietly wipes the yolk off his hand with his handkerchief with a visible frown on his face. "You bastard…" He mumbles to himself as he throws the dirty hanky into a nearby trash can. He looks up to show his dark killer eyes. "… you're having a death wish, you know that?"

_W-what's up with this dangerous atmosphere? _Mikan thinks to herself as she swallows hard, stepping back with her Aoi-chan in her arms. _Natsume is… up to something again._ Then, she remembers the events that happened 3 days ago, when Natsume suddenly punched Ryoma on the streets. _Oh no! Don't tell me he's going to do that again!_

Soon, she also finds her gentle friend Nogi Ruka also approaching Ryoma with a very much dark face similar to Natsume. Mikan almost jumped in surprise at the sight of this and thinks with a panicked look, _Oh no, even Ruka-pyon, too? Just what is going on here? I need to stop them before anything happens!_

"Kachiro-kun, please hold Aoi-chan for me," Mikan asks her classmate, the timid and idle Kachiro with a smile. Kachiro, although confused, nods back hesitantly and takes the egg from Mikan. "Thank you, please don't break it and be careful!"

"H-hai," Kachiro replies. He stares at the egg and thinks, _Aoi…chan?_

"You're really starting to get on my nerves, Echizen…" Natsume darkly warns as he takes a step nearer, his fist ready to make a bloody punch. "Back in my school, I would beat up anyone who tries to oppose me… even some teachers are afraid of me." He looks at Ryoma to the eyes and threateningly says, "It seems like you picked the wrong person to mess up with."

"Ryoma-san… how could you…" Ruka starts with an emotionless tone, his head down, making the upper part of his face being shadowed by his golden locks. "I…"

"Stop it, you two!" Mikan exclaims as she runs in front of her two Alice friends. Ryoma looks up to her with slightly surprised eyes. Mikan stares at her two shocked friends and then gives a smile. "Ryoma-kun and I are going to continue doing the tasks of our project, so, please don't interfere for a while, okay?"

"Mikan…" Ruka mumbles as his killer-like side fades away to his usual gentle personality. He looks down to his scared bunny and realizes his actions. "I… I'm sorry, I'm really sorry… I didn't know what has gotten into me." Ruka gives a boyish smile and steps aside. "Pardon my rudeness, Mikan."

Mikan blushes slightly and nods, "Um, y-yeah…" then she turns to Ryoma and thinks, _Phew… that was close, really close! _She then gives a bright smile and asks, "Ryoma-kun, may I see the handout, please?" Ryoma stares at her and then gives her the paper without saying a word. Mikan gladly takes it and says, "Thank you!"

"Let's see… the next task is…" Mikan says as she unfolds the paper. She looks at the Saturday column and then reads out loud, "Go out to the park… check! Put him on a sandbox… already done! The next one is… hmmm… 'Daddy and Mommy kiss the… egg… together'?!"

_What the? _Natsume thinks to himself as he looks up to Mikan with a rather much surprised look.

Mikan lets go of the handout and then looks around to Ryoma, who's also surprised, and then to Natsume, who's staring at her with wide eyes, and Ruka, who's blushing red with a slight frown, and to Hotaru, who's currently holding a camera.

_What… what should I do?! _Mikan thinks to herself as she cups her warm cheeks.

_Dear Grandpa,_

_I'm in a really complicated situation today! I'm in a park together with everyone else because of the project, and somehow, I need to kiss the egg together with Ryoma-kun! MOU! It's as if we're also kissing each other! Grandpa, help me!_

_Mikan_

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Alright, that's the 12****th**** chapter, people. So what do you think? I'm sorry if it's quite boring or if it has less humor than usual… so many things are cramped inside my mind today that I did it in a rush. There's a long summative test next week and I have to cram… again. Well, not really, but somehow like that. Oh well, hope you enjoy it the same!**

**PLEASE REVIEW! It's an appreciation for my work. Flames are a no-no and criticisms are considered. Thank you!**

**REVIEW!**

**Phoenix Swordsman**


	13. Mikan's Second Kiss

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. All Rights Reserved to them. Thank you.

**Chapter 13: Mikan's Second Kiss!**

It was a very sunny morning to all the Alice Users and to all Seigaku students. As of the moment, four pairs were at the park by sheer coincidence. As for the record, Natsume's team was the first to break the egg, thus, they automatically failed the project due to his uncontrollable rage and jealousy, much to Katsuo's dismay.

As for Mikan's side, the next action elaborated on her handout was to kiss the egg together with her partner, Echizen Ryoma, the Tennis Prodigy. Such embarrassing things to do, can the Nullification Alice User succeed in doing so? And in front of her friends? Well, let's read on and find out.

"K-Kiss the… egg… together with Ryoma-kun?" Mikan repeats in a low tone of voice as she looks around her, cupping her warm and blushing cheeks. What the… what is wrong with this handout?! Why is Tsujimoto-sensei assigning such difficult and too-mature tasks for them? If you take off the egg, it's as if she's kissing Ryoma-kun herself!

"So… are you going to do it?" Hotaru asks with a plain tone of voice as she holds her camera in her hands, her purple eyes secretly shining under the glittering golden sun.

Mikan was about to say no and tell her best friend that she was not going to do such a humiliating thing but the thought of the minus 2 deduction on her first project hindered her from doing so. _I can't do it… but I have to do it… for the sake of this project… and for Aoi-chan, too! _Mikan thinks to herself as she closes her eyes and turns around so that the people behind her wouldn't see her reddened and flushing face.

Hotaru blinks and then turns to the silent Echizen Ryoma, who is currently just sitting on a bench with his head lowered, his dark-green band covering his hazel eyes. "Hmm… How about you, Echizen? Are you up to it?"

Ryoma looks up with his almond-shaped hazel eyes and gives his trademark arrogant smirk. He glances to the quiet and frowning Hyuuga Natsume and replies, "Even if I want to or not, it's not as if I have a choice…" He looks up to the blue sky, a hand on his forehead, shielding his eyes from the rays of the sun and says, "Besides… isn't doing that kind of thing normal for husbands and wives?"

_He's enjoying this, isn't he… _Natsume thinks to himself as he stares at the cool Ryoma with fiery red eyes. If Mikan hadn't interrupted him and Ruka earlier, he could've beaten up the Tennis prodigy into a pulp and let Ruka's wolves eat him up. Echizen Ryoma is really getting on his nerves since Tuesday, the day they arrived from Alice Academy. _And he's going to kiss an egg with Mikan? As if I'm going to let that happen!_

With a big breath, Mikan turns around with a blush and exclaims, "O-Okay, we're going to do it! But not here! We're going somewhere else!" With a tomato-like face, Mikan glances to Ryoma and stammers as she stretches out her hand, "L-Let's go, Ryoma-kun! We have a project to finish!"

Ryoma looks at her with uninterested eyes and then stands up from the bench. He walks pass the chocolate-eyed Alice user and then picks up their handout which was left lying on the grass. He gives a small sigh and looks at the paper with a bored look, much to the confusion of his auburn-haired partner. After he reads a certain part under the 'Saturday' column, he glances up to the puzzled Mikan.

"Hey… we can't go somewhere else…" Ryoma says with his usual nonchalant tone of voice. He points to the handout and continues, "It says here… 'Daddy and Mommy kiss the egg together… PS: There must be at least 6 witnesses.'" After hearing the statement, Mikan's eyes goes wide in surprise. Ryoma then quickly adds, "Oh yeah… it also says here… 'PPS: The Witnesses must also be students of Class 1-B, specifically their names must start with N, H, H, R, K, K…'"

_W-Why do I get the feeling that Tsujimoto-sensei expected all of this to happen, and even planned it from the start? _Mikan wonders secretly to herself as she makes one step back in disbelief. Soon, she finds herself being stared at by the people around her. "S-Stop staring at me… I'll do it, okay?"

"Then do it now," Hotaru says blankly. She points to the violet-glowing Aoi-chan and adds, "Your egg is getting impatient already. It wants its mommy and daddy's kiss."

Ryoma stares at the emotionless Hotaru and then to the blushing chocolate-eyed partner of his. Sighing, he walks to Kachiro and raises his hand. "The egg," he demands with his cool tone of voice. Kachiro nods and then gives their Aoi-chan back to him gently, careful enough not to make any kind of pressure that would result to it shattering. Ryoma walks back to Mikan and raises the egg lip-level. "Don't blush. It's distracting."

Mikan looks down and turns even redder. "B-But, I can't help myself… mou, fine already!" She looks to her side and sees Natsume staring at her with a not-so-pleased look, a visible frown on his face. _Natsume… _the auburn-haired Alice user thinks to herself. She shakes her head and wonders; _W-why am I thinking of Natsume now? I… I have to concentrate!_

"I need to take a picture of this…" Hotaru says as she gives a small smile, turning on her Digital Camera. "I'll make millions of money from this picture…"

_She's still thinking of money at a time like this? _The other boys think to themselves with a dark and shocked look as they try to distance themselves from the terrifying money-greedy ebony-haired girl who's adjusting her camera. _She's using her best friend's situation as an excuse to make cash!_

Ryoma, without further ado, closes his eyes as he prepares himself for the next task. Mikan swallows hard as she puts a hand beneath her chest, feeling the fast beating of her heart. _I…I'm so nervous! _Mikan thinks to herself as she looks at Ryoma's relaxed face. _R-Ryoma-kun is so calm… it's as if he has experienced these kind of situations before… w-what should I do? _Without noticing it, Mikan turns to Natsume, who's looking down. _Natsume…_

"Oi, our egg is getting angry… shouldn't we get this over with already?" Ryoma mutters in an uninterested tone of voice, opening one eye. Mikan looks down and sees their egg making a faint red glow, signaling that it was getting mad. Ryoma closes his one eye and leans closer. He whispers, "It's just a kiss on an egg… don't make it too much of a big deal… Just ignore them."

Mikan hesitantly nods, replying, "O-Okay…" With a big breath, the auburn-haired girl slowly closes her eyes and leans closer. Kachiro and the others swallow hard and hold their breaths, anxious to see the moment when both of the lips of Mikan and Ryoma will touch the frail and delicate shell of the egg.

Natsume, really not pleased to see what is happening in front of him, clenches his hands and grits his teeth in rage. It seems that good luck and blessings have been showered to his rival, Echizen Ryoma, one after another! First, he gets the privilege to host Mikan, and then he carried her on their way home, and then they get paired as Husband and Wife in a project and now both of them are about to kiss if you take away the egg!

"Natsume?" Ruka mutters as the blonde-haired boy turns to his raven-haired best friend. "Are you alright?" Natsume, in response, lowers his head, his bangs covering his eyes. The ruby-eyed boy then walks toward the Ryoma and Mikan pair with an angry look. Ruka, obviously worried, calls out, "Natsume, where are you going? Natsume!"

_Bastard… bastard… bastard… _Natsume chants in his mind as he walks nearer to the pair. _Bastard… I won't let you have everything go your way! _

Before Mikan could touch the shell of the egg with her lips, she opens her eyes and she sees her friend, Hyuuga Natsume, approaching with his head lowered. Curious and confused, she stops halfway and looks up. "Natsume? What's wrong?" Mikan asks, pulling her head away from the egg. Ryoma opens his eyes and smirks at the sight of the heated Natsume.

Mikan continues, "Natsume, why are you here? I –" but before Mikan could ever continue, the Fire Caster grips her shoulders with his hands and pulls her closer to him. Mikan widens her eyes as she feels Natsume's soft lips being planted on her own. _N… Natsume… _Mikan thinks to herself as Natsume kisses her gently.

Ryoma's hazel eyes soon widens in surprise as he stares at the sight of her partner being kissed by Hyuuga Natsume. Earlier, he expected that the ruby-eyed newcomer would go to him and punch him like he did three days ago, but instead, he pulled Mikan and kissed her in front of everyone. Natsume's just 13 years old and he's already doing things not really suited for his age.

"Now, this is better than to have her kiss an egg," Hotaru smiles as she takes a picture of the kissing couple with her camera, making the other boys behind her sweat drop.

After a short while, Natsume softly and slowly parts his lips from Mikan's. His ruby eyes then starts to stare at Mikan's red and surprised face. "Idiot," he whispers softly in his usual tone of voice and cold glare. "Are you trying to make me jealous? You should kiss me and only me… you got that, polka-dots?" He looks up and glares at the surprised Ryoma. "Not Echizen… not an egg… not anyone."

Mikan looks at Natsume with wide chocolate eyes, her cheeks blushing deep crimson. She never really expected that Natsume would walk up and kiss her in front of her friends! He really took her by surprise… like that time when he stole her first kiss three years ago at a Christmas Party. His lips… the way he kissed her… she could still remember it and now she experienced it again.

_Natsume… my… second kiss… _Mikan thinks to herself as her knees tremble. With her right fingers, she touches her wet and quite swollen lips and then blushes to herself as she reminisces the feeling of Natsume's lips planted on hers. It was sweet, yet a little rough, but it felt incredible. _W-What am I thinking? I should be angry, angry! I should be mad at Natsume for kissing me suddenly like that! _She looks up and sees Natsume looking at her with his intense ruby eyes. _But… I can't be mad… at those… eyes…_

Ryoma slightly narrows his eyes as he notices the awkward and 'love-like' atmosphere between the two. Somehow, Mikan completely forgot about the task of kissing the egg ever since she was kissed by Natsume. He looks away and then stares at their egg who's already angry since the task of kissing it was forgotten.

_There goes the 2 points… _Ryoma thinks to himself as he closes his eyes. He picks the handout again and crosses out the kissing assignment with a pen he brought earlier, just in case he needed it.

"W-Wow… that was the first romantic scene I ever saw in my whole 13 years of life!" Horio exclaims as he blushes bright red. He glances to the too-busy-taking-pictures Imai Hotaru besides him and then wonders out loud, "I… I wonder if I get to kiss the egg with Imai-san, too?"

**Horio's Unrealistic Imagination: **

"_Hotaru-chan, it's time to kiss our baby!" Horio exclaims with a light blush, a stupid and in-love expression plastered on his face as he pulls out their delicate egg. He takes out a clean handkerchief and wipes the shell of the egg with it. "Here, let me clean it for us!"_

_Hotaru, in her emotionless, plain and uninterested tone of voice, nods and replies, "Yes, you are right. It's time. It's time for us to kiss it."_

_Horio raises the egg high in the air and exclaims too-energetically, "Yosha! It's all clean now!" Then, he turns to the emotionless Hotaru with a blush and says, "Now, at the count of 3, let's kiss it together!" Hotaru nods at him. Horio closes his eyes and counts with a wide grin, "One… Two… Three!" Horio leans closer and was about to kiss the egg until he finds himself being aimed at by Hotaru's Baka Gun. "H-Hotaru-chan, why are you pointing at me with your Baka Gun?"_

_Hotaru gives a small smile and replies plainly, "Because I don't want to kiss the egg." Horio looks at her surprised. "I want to kiss…"_

_Horio swallows hard as he reads Hotaru's lips._

"…_you…"_

**End of Horio's Unrealistic Imagination**

Horio was about to blush deep red and crimson for his 'unrealistic' thoughts, but was interrupted when Hotaru gives him three Air Punches with her infamous Baka Gun, an invention of hers when she was still in Alice Academy. Well, as usual, the Baka Gun sent Horio flying a few meters away, scaring the lights out of the poor and oblivious boy and freaking out the rest of the guys, specifically Katsuo and Kachiro.

Hotaru blows away the puff of smoke coming out from the brim of her Baka Gun and says to apparently no one at all, "Let's skip this and head on to Monday, shall we?"

**So… Monday…**

"_Idiot, are you trying to make me jealous? You should kiss me, and only me… you got that, polka-dots? Not Echizen… not an egg… not anyone."_

Yes, this is what Hyuuga Natsume told to our dear Sakura Mikan two days before, specifically last Saturday, when she and her partner, Echizen Ryoma, met the others by pure chance at a certain park near their home. Of course, for any other person, they will understand and will know for certain that these are words from a jealous mouth, but in the case of Sakura Mikan… well… let's just say that until now, she's still baffled about it.

_Mou, what did Natsume mean by that? I don't understand it all! _Mikan thinks to herself as their Japanese teacher leaves the classroom, the class getting noisy again as there is no sensei to check upon them. The chocolate-eyed Alice user scratches the back of her head and stares at the blackboard, deep in thought.

_But, before that… _she continues thinking as she puts two of her fingers on her lips. Without any kind of thinking, she instinctively turns to the quiet Hyuuga Natsume, who was at the other side of the room reading a Shounen Manga. She softens her eyes as she stares at Natsume's lips with a light scarlet blush. _Why… did he kiss me? And just when I was about to complete another task… Natsume… why is he so unreadable? I can never know what's truly going on in his mind…_

Unaware to the Nullification Alice user, a certain Seigaku student is staring at her with his intense hazel eyes. Yes, you got that right… the certain student is Echizen Ryoma, a proclaimed Child Tennis Prodigy way back when he was still living in the US. The scene of Natsume kissing his partner and host student was always on Ryoma's mind ever since that incident. He doesn't know why, but he hates it whenever he tries to recall it. What was more irritating was that it was distracting him from properly practicing Tennis.

_What am I getting worried for? _Ryoma thinks to himself as he closes his eyes. _Thinking of other things now that the Ranking Matches are today… I'm pretty stupid for a Tennis Prodigy. When oyaji hears this, he'll probably laugh out loud muttering that I'm finally entering puberty just like Horio…_

Soon enough, Tsujimoto-sensei enters the room with his usual happy smile on his face. "Good afternoon, dear students! It's time for homeroom!" He greets with a happy tone of voice. The students of Class 1-B tiredly replies back. Well, can you blame them? After having 9 different classes, they don't have time to be energetic like their adviser.

Tsujimoto laughs whole-heartedly as he puts down his record book. "Well, I see you're all tired today! Don't worry; I'm going to dismiss you a little early today, since I also have an appointment myself. I'm sure that all of you need to go to your clubs!" With a smile, Tsujimoto opens his record book and then continues, "I'm sure all of you did your projects as diligently as you could, so, let's go straight to the point, shall we?"

"Okay, as you all know, there's a device in each egg I gave out… and all the information that device has stored will be sent to me, particularly, into my computer," Tsujimoto announces as he smiles at the class. "Now, I'm not going to announce all of your results, but only those who made it to the top. I'm very proud to some of you, but I am quite disappointed as there are some couples who did not do very well."

Katsuo lowers his head as he remembers his partner; the ever-so-scary Hyuuga Natsume broke their egg two days ago. He mumbles to himself, "Sensei, please stop trying to make me guiltier…"

"Hahaha, there's always a next time, Katsuo-kun! So, smile, smile!" Tsujimoto cheers as he tries to comfort the 'crying' Katsuo. "Anyway, the pair that got the highest grade, with no mistakes and failures at all is the Ryuzaki and Tobita pair! Students, give them a round of applause for their hard work!"

Tobita awkwardly laughs with a smile as he thanks his classmate congratulating him. "Thank you, thank you very much," he smiles as he looks around with a blush. He turns to his seatmate and host, Ryuzaki Sakuno, with a wide smile and exclaims, "Well, congratulations to you too, Ryuzaki-chan, for your hard work."

Sakuno gives a light blush and giggles. "No, we succeeded because of your fatherly skills, Tobita-san. You really did it well and made everything go alright!"

_They're surprisingly modest… _the other students think to themselves as Yuu and Sakuno continue on congratulating each other for their hard work, and denying it at the same time.

"Next, with only 1 mistake and failure, the Nogi and Kato pair! Give them a round of applause, everyone!" Tsujimoto-sensei announces with another wide smile.

"Looks like we finally did it, Ruka-san," Kachiro smiles as he glances toward his partner, the blue-eyed half-French animal lover. "Congratulations to you. We somehow made it to be a fine couple, didn't we?"

Ruka chuckles boyishly and replies, "Mah, mah, Kachiro-kun… you shouldn't joke about that… It's not really funny."

Kachiro gives out an awkward laugh as he scratches the back of his head. The timid boy then answers, "Y-yeah, you're right… well, um, congratulations still for having the second highest grade, Ruka-san… although I did also help out…"

"Well, that's all I'm going to announce for today," Tsujimoto-sensei says as he closes his blue record book, disappointing many of his anxious students. He scratches the back of his head as he tries to reason out, "Demo, I need to watch a soap opera… err, I need to go to an urgent appointment… besides, I'll just give you your grades first thing tomorrow morning!" Tsujimoto takes the rest of his things and then exits the door. "Soooo… Class dismissed! Bye!"

Horio rolls his eyes as he mumbles, "What an irresponsible adviser…"

Ryoma, partially relieved that class was finally over for the day, picks up his backpack and then walks over to the door as the other students watch him leave. Mikan notices his departure and asks, "Ryoma-kun? Where are you going?"

Ryoma stops halfway to the door and lowers his head. "Club," he replies with his usual cool tone of voice as he waves one hand. He slightly glances back and continues, "The Ranking Matches are today… every member needs to be there." He gives a smirk as he exits the room. "Don't come late… Mikan."

**Doki. Doki.**

Mikan's eyes widen in surprise as she feels her heart beating fast once again against her chest. This feeling… why is that she is constantly feeling it every now and then? And why does she only feel it with Natsume, Ryoma and Ruka?

_No, Mikan! Stop thinking about unnecessary things! _Mikan thinks to herself as she shakes her head, unaware of a pair of ruby eyes looking at her back. _I can't fail now, like that project… although we didn't really fail, we did left out some tasks…anyway, I must try my best today!_

_Dear Grandpa,_

_Looks like my first project didn't really go well… that was to be expected, since my partner is Echizen Ryoma, a kind but unsociable guy… but the past is the past, right? Right now, I need to concentrate and focus myself entirely to the Ranking Matches. Go, Mikan!_

_Mikan  
_

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Sorry for the long no update… I've been so busy, if you all only knew… but at last, I was finally able to finish the Sir Percival Project! Next up, a miniature set on how to execute "Power"… man, another difficult one… thinking about this, it makes me want to wish I have the Baby Egg Project instead… haha!**

**Second, I'm sorry if this chapter won't be as good as the first ones… in the first chapters, I get to plan it in every detail, now, I'm doing the chapters in a rush and whatever comes to my mind, I just type it down… please do consider my situation!**

**To the person who pointed out my past mistakes, thank you very much for bothering to do so! I appreciate it… and I would try my best to consider all of your suggestions of putting some Rikkai characters… maybe in the future when things get more intense… haha!**

**PLEASE REVIEW! It's an appreciation for my work… Flames are a no-no, constructive criticism is considered… review!**

**Phoenix-Swordsman**


	14. The Sad Truth and the Ranking Matches!

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. All Rights Reserved to them. Thank you.

**Chapter 13: The Sad Truth and the Ranking Matches!**

It was a very cloudy afternoon, the sun still in the sky, almost ready to retreat beyond the horizon, as students from various schools end their classes and go home to withdraw for the day. Of course, there are still many people who stay after school to attend to their respective clubs plus their other duties, and the new Seigaku newcomers who recently arrived from Alice Academy are especially one of them.

Hyuuga Natsume, a 13 years old boy having fiery red eyes and raven black hair possessing the Dangerous Type Fire Alice, stares at Sakura Mikan, another 13 years old girl with auburn-like hair and warm brown eyes having the Alice of Nullification, as the stated girl picks up her backpack from her designated chair. Yes, at this very moment, the girl he likes is preparing to go to the Tennis Courts and attend the Ranking Matches, a set of games that decide who will be the next eight Regulars of the Tennis Club.

Natsume closes his eyes and picks up his bag from the floor. _Guess there is no other choice… damn polka-dots…_ he thinks to himself as he stands up from his seat, the chattering of the class surrounding him. He looks up and glances to Mikan who is currently laughing alongside with the other girls. Soon, Natsume reminisces what happened at the park two days ago.

Without thinking, instead of trying to fight against Echizen Ryoma like he always did, he unconsciously grabbed the cheerful Sakura Mikan with his own hands, pulled her closer to him and finally kissed her in front of so many people to see. He could still remember the taste of her lips as he kissed her, as he pushed his tongue forcefully inside her… it was sweet and satisfying, just like what he tasted in their last kiss 3 years ago at the Christmas Party, when he left Sakura Mikan gasping for breath.

Well, whatever the consequences of his past actions, he doesn't regret it. What he did was a warning to Ryoma that Mikan belongs to him, that he shouldn't mingle in other's affairs and it was also a message to the dense girl that she should only see him in her eyes, and nobody else.

In short, it was like killing two birds with one stone. So what was there to regret about? Absolutely nothing.

"Hyuuga-san, are you also going to the club today?" Katsuo asks as he turns to the standing Natsume. Katsuo gives a sheepish smile and continues, "Although only the second and third year sempais are allowed to play, it is still a requirement for the freshmen and newcomers to attend the Ranking Matches. You're good in playing tennis, aren't you, Hyuuga-san? If you're lucky, they might allow you to take place in the matches, just like what they did to Ryoma-kun."

"… Really," Natsume mumbles with a bored tone as he silently walks away from his host brother, Katsuo, towards his best friend, Nogi Ruka, making the poor slim Seigaku student sweat drop. Natsume walks towards his blue-eyed friend and tells him, "Let's go, Ruka. That idiot is going to the Tennis Courts again."

Ruka looks up and stares at Natsume's cold ruby eyes and hesitantly nods. The blonde-haired boy tightens his grip of his pet bunny and looks away with an uncertain and disturbed look, saying with a soft stammering voice, "Y-yeah… we… we should also be going there, too."

Natsume stares at his quiet best friend with a slightly shocked look. All through his life of knowing Ruka, this was the first time that his animal lover friend would not look at him in the eye. _Is something bothering him? _The raven-haired Alice user wonders secretly as he waits for Ruka to finish packing his things.

"Ruka… there's something bothering you, isn't it?" Natsume asks as he and Ruka exit the noise-filled classroom of 1-B towards the stairs going downstairs to the ground floor. "Are you alright?"

Ruka turns to his red-eyed friend and gives an awkward smile, rubbing the bunny's head with his hand. "Yes, I'm… I'm fine, thank you, Natsume." He gives another reassuring smile and looks straight ahead. Alas, looks can be very deceiving, as for this gentle and kind boy, he may look alright in the exterior, but he's absolutely nothing near as fine inside. All this while, he was keeping up his gentle and serene façade as to not worry his best friend.

Yes, ever since the kiss that happened two days ago at a certain park, Ruka was frequently disturbed by it. During the day, he kept thinking about it that he forgot to put his and Kachiro's egg on its bed (which was the result of their 1 failure); by night, the scenes of his best friend and the girl he likes kissing haunted his dreams. He was so troubled by it all that he wasn't able to give his full focus and concentration in various things. He couldn't believe that Natsume was able to steal Mikan's first kiss (he doesn't know that they already kissed during the Christmas Party 3 years ago).

He always knew that both of them like Mikan and he already vowed to himself that whoever Mikan chooses between the two of them, there would be no hard feelings against each other. He always respects the invisible and friendly rivalry among them for Mikan's heart, but, seeing Natsume finally making his move, it really hurt him… what was more was that for once, he felt a taste of a little jealousy.

_I don't want to be jealous… I never wanted to be jealous… _Ruka thinks to himself sadly as he and Natsume cross over the other building to the Tennis Courts. _I respect Natsume… I understand that we are both aiming for the same goal… but… why do I feel hurt and why is it that I keep thinking that Mikan might drift away from me… _Ruka sighs and shakes his head lightly, confusing Natsume. _No, no, no, Ruka! Stop it! Stop such foolish thoughts! It's not the end yet… I still have my chance. That's right, the opportunity is still there… I'm going to do my best!_

Soon, both of them arrive in the Tennis Courts, and for some reason, Mikan and the other freshmen newcomers are already there. All of them are whispering to each other and are gathered in front of a medium-sized whiteboard showing four graphs filled with names of various people. Almost immediately, Oishi-senpai appears out of nowhere and hushes the pre-teenagers to be quiet.

"Now, now, everyone, I shall explain everything," Oishi says with a smile as the others quiet down and listen to him. "As you all know, every once in a while, our Tennis Club will have Ranking Matches to decide the eight Regulars. Unfortunately, only the second years and the third years are given the privilege to show their Tennis skills, but do not lost hope, as you freshmen are also an important asset to us, since you are all Players-in-training and I'm sure all of you have the potential to be a skillful player someday."

Soon, Ryoma walks out from the Tennis Room wearing his usual White cap and blue and white shirt and joins the others as Oishi continues giving his speech. "As I have stated before, only the senpais are allowed to play, but last time, a freshman, Echizen Ryoma-kun, was asked to take the court since the competent eye of our Tezuka-taichou (captain) was able to witness his extraordinary Tennis skills," Oishi continues. "And now, another freshman was able to pass beyond our expectations and is asked to also try to take place in the Ranking Matches." Oishi smiles and points to Natsume. "From the orders of Tezuka-taichou, Hyuuga Natsume is allowed to play!"

"What the –beep-?" Koko states as he instinctively reads Natsume's mind out loud for everyone to hear. Soon, he feels himself getting glared at by the people around him, especially the victim, Hyuuga Natsume. "D-did I say something wrong?"

"Bastard, what is this now?" Natsume mumbles angrily as he looks at his upperclassman with a killer's glare, obviously not liking that he has to trouble himself with such nonsense like playing tennis again. He didn't join the Tennis Club to play; he joined because he had to keep an eye on Mikan! Of course, he, Hyuuga Natsume, doesn't have the time of day to waste time swinging a useless racket around! "Sorry to disappoint you, but I have no intention of playing."

Oishi gives an awkward smile and puts a hand behind his head. "Mah, mah, Natsume-kun, it's not really that hard," the vice-president assures the annoyed raven-haired boy. "I'm sure you'll do just fine! You were definitely awesome when you played with Echizen Ryoma-kun last time, so win or not, I'm certain that you'll play beautifully!"

Natsume rolls his eyes and starts to walk away. "Oishi-senpai, I don't think this is a matter of knowing how to play or not," Natsume answers in a grave tone of voice as he sits on a bench, Ruka following him closely. "It's a matter of having the willingness to take part in it or having none. If I'm not in the mood for such gibberish, I don't think there's any meaning to it." Natsume looks up and gives off his trademark smirk. "… Is there?"

Just when Oishi was about to reply back, Ryoma butts in as he looks at the whiteboard and says in a very loud voice for Natsume to hear, "Let's see… in Court A, there's Oishi-senpai vs. Akai-senpai, Eiji-senpai vs. an anonymous student… in Court B, there's Inui-senpai vs. Momo-senpai and Tezuka-senpai vs. anonymous student #2… in Court C, there's Kaido-senpai vs. anonymous student #3 and Fuji-senpai vs. anonymous student #4… in Court D, Kawamura-senpai vs. anonymous student #5 and… Echizen vs. Hyuuga." Ryoma turns around and fixes his hazel eyes to Natsume's red ones. "Interesting. We're rivals." He gives off a smirk and continues, "Why don't we end our dispute in this one-on-one match?"

_Bastard… _Natsume thinks to himself as he glares at Ryoma. He's so sick of Ryoma's smirking face every time he sees it. And this is no exception.

"Fine, I'll take you on… don't regret it that you've challenged me," Natsume threats as he randomly takes a racket from somewhere. He stands up from his seat and calmly walks to Court D with Ruka calling his name behind him. As he reaches the court, he tries to do some warm-up exercises as Ryoma talks to one of the upperclassmen on being the referee. _I'll show you who's superior, bastard… _Natsume thinks as he finishes his warm-ups.

"Hey, look, Natsume-kun is going to have a match with Ryoma-kun," Yuu smiles as he sits beside Mikan, who's currently sitting on a nearby bench. Yuu, with his golden eyes, glances towards the quiet Mikan and asks her, "Aren't you going to watch in the sidelines, Mikan-chan? Don't you want to cheer for both of them? They're your friends, right?"

Mikan turns to their class representative and forces a small smile, saying, "Y-Yeah… maybe later, Yuu…" Soon, Mikan looks down to the ground with an unmotivated look on her baby-like face.

The class representative stares at Mikan with a confused look and gives in a sigh. For the past few hours, he noticed that Mikan was kind of out of it. It was like; she's always deep in thought and seems to be in her own little world. There were circumstances that she's like this back in Alice Academy, and in those times, it was because something happened or that something is disturbing her. And it was times like this that he wants to help her the most.

"Something happened, Mikan-chan?" Yuu asks suddenly out of the blue as he stares at the crowding Court D. Mikan looks up and looks at him with her deep brown eyes. Yuu fixes the glasses that compliments his golden orbs and gives the Nullification Alice user a warm and friendly smile. "You can always tell me about it. I may be of help."

Mikan looks down and jumbles both of her index fingers with a light blush, asking in a low tone of voice, "T-Then, can you bring back my second kiss?"

Yuu gives another warm smile and tries to rub his ears. "Oh, I must not have cleaned my ears this morning… how stupid of me!" Yuu says with his trademark friendly smile. He leans closer and asks, "What did you just say, Mikan-chan? I might not have heard it correctly… if you don't mind, please do repeat what you just said."

With another light blush, Mikan leans closer to Yuu's ear and puts a hand beside her mouth and whispers in his ear, "Can… you… bring… back… my… second…kiss… Yuu?"

After a few moments, Mikan pulls herself away from her good friend and realizes that Yuu has turned to stone because of shock and surprise. Well, not really "turned to stone", but he is pretty shocked. And, well, he's also not moving… maybe paralyzed? I _wonder if he's trying to be funny. _Mikan thinks to herself as she pokes Yuu in the ribs.

"K-K-K-KISS?!" Yuu exclaims in a very astonished voice, standing up with both of his hands on his head, his cheeks bright red with a really shocked and worried look on his gentle face. Mikan stares at him with puzzled eyes as he asks in quite a loud voice, "S-Somebody k… k… kissed you, Mikan-chan?! That's… that's a surprise! … it… it must have been a very good experience!" _Yuu, you idiot, that's not what you're supposed to say! You should discourage her from doing this kind of things, or else, she might crave for more! _Yuu scolds himself.

Mikan looks down with a dazed look and puts two of her fingers on her lips. "… yeah, it was…" she replies as she remembers Natsume kissing her last Saturday, and the kiss he gave her three years ago during the Christmas Party. Every time she remembers it, it somehow makes her heart beat faster, and her cheeks always get pretty hot.

"T-That's great, Mikan-chan!" Yuu lies as he gives a fake laugh. _No, of course not, it's not great! Tell her to forget about it, Yuu! _"I guess that marks the beginning of your teenage years." _She's too naïve to be a teenager! She's just 13… and she already kissed someone! _"With someone as pretty as you, it's just not possible that no one kissed you yet!" _Why can't I just tell her the truth? Mikan being this happy… I guess I just can't put myself to let her down…_

"So, it's not a bad thing, right?" Mikan asks with a small smile.

"Of course not, especially when it's with someone you like," Yuu replies with another 'cheerful' smile. _Of course it's a bad thing! Mikan-chan, you're not in the proper age to do this yet!_ Then, he glances around and sees her host, Ryuzaki Sakuno, signaling him that they have to go home since they have to do their early household chores. Yuu glances to Mikan and tells her, "Mikan-chan, I'm going home now. Take care of yourself!"

"Bye-bye, Yuu!" Mikan smiles as she waves Yuu goodbye. Yuu gives her a small smile and leaves with his bag. Mikan stands up and yells, "Thank you for the encouragement!"

_Y... You're Welcome… Mikan-chan… _Yuu think sadly to himself as he finally reunites with his host, the friendly and quite timid Ryuzaki Sakuno, the granddaughter of the coach of the Tennis Club in Seigaku. He couldn't believe it… Mikan was kissed by someone and he wasn't even aware of it. Could it be possible that the others also know of this and is keeping it from him? Ever since the Student Visit Program, he gets to hang out less with his friends, and he's always the last to know the news. As the Class Representative, he has to know what is going on during the program, or else, everything might go down like a landslide during a stormy day.

"You seem to like talking to Mikan-chan a lot, Tobita-san," Sakuno comments as they walk on the street, their house just a few blocks away. Yuu turns to her with a surprised look. Sakuno giggles and continues, "It's just that, you never seem to get tired from talking to Mikan-chan, and whenever she has problems in school, you're eager to help her out. You must be good friends with her!"

"Good friends, huh…" Yuu mumbles in a low tone with a sad smile. He sighs and looks at the orange sky as they continue on walking. He adjusts the glasses that frames his eyes and sorrowfully carries on, "Actually… to tell you the truth… Mikan-chan is… no… let me rephrase that… I fell in love with Mikan-chan the first time I saw here three years ago."

"… huh?" Sakuno mutters as her eyes flies wide, stopping on her tracks, making Yuu walk on further. She stares at the retreating back of her newly-earned friend, thinking, _Tobita-san… fell in love with Mikan-chan at first sight? And Mikan-chan doesn't know that? All these years… he's been in love with her and never told her the truth?_

"Why don't you go and tell her?" asks Sakuno with a rather much hesitant voice, but despite that, she really wants to know the reason why Yuu has been in low profile through their years of friendship. Yuu stops and glances at her with a surprised look. "You're in love with her, right? Until now, right?" Yuu softens his eyes and looks away. "Don't look away, Tobita-san! I know you are! I always notice that you would sometimes glance at Mikan-chan when she's not looking!"

"So that's why… so that's why you're always so eager to help her out, so willing to make her smile when she's down, so contented when you're around her," Sakuno continues with a sad look. "So that's why I always see 'love' in your eyes whenever you look at her. If all what I said was true, then why don't you confess to her, Tobita-san? Aren't both of you good friends? Who knows, she might accept you! You're a good person and you're a really great and smart companion! Knowing that you like her, do you want to let your relationship with Mikan-chan stay like this?"

"Ryuzaki-san, I really appreciate your concern for me," Yuu replies with a glad tone of voice. He scratches the back of his head and chuckles. "Oh, I'm so embarrassed now that I've been lectured of my love life… I've never been lucky with girls…" He looks up and gives a warm smile. "I'm happy with my relationship with Mikan-chan right now, Ryuzaki-san. I'd rather be friends with her than to have her be uncomfortable around me. I'm satisfied just seeing her happy and well." He turns around and walks away, leaving Sakuno stunned. "Besides… there are already two of them who like her more than me anyway, and I'll probably get killed by them if ever I try to hit on Mikan-chan… and she has someone else she likes and she's happy that things are going well for both of them…" Yuu glances back and smiles. "Isn't that enough to make me happy, don't you think so, Ryuzaki-san?"

"Tobita…san…" Sakuno mumbles as she stares at Yuu with wide eyes, very surprised. Soon, she feels ashamed of herself for trying to scold her new friend when she doesn't even know the situation happening. She's always like this, jumping to conclusions. _It's a pity that Tobita-san may never be able to be completely satisfied now that he's only friends with Mikan-chan… I have to think of a way to make them closer somehow…_

**Meanwhile…**

Back in the Seigaku Tennis Courts, every tennis member, from the freshmen to the seniors, are crowded in Court D, all very anxious and excited to see the match that will soon begin between the Samurai Junior Echizen Ryoma and the Mysterious Newcomer Hyuuga Natsume. Even the other senpais agrees to halt their matches to see the game between the two intense freshmen. Having two underclassmen fight is not something you see everyday, especially when their personalities are so alike in many different ways.

"Match will start in 5 minutes," Fuji announces as he gives a smile to both players as they ready their rackets with his trademark friendly smile and his calm closed-eyes look. "Everyone, I'm sure you're excited, but please do not go pass beyond the Tennis Line. All of you shall watch in the sidelines please!" Fuji chuckles to himself and tells to Oishi, who is beside him, "You must have anticipated this match, Oishi."

Oishi smiles and nods back, replying, "Of course. Last time, I was very shocked to see fire emerging from the Tennis Ball when Natsume-kun hit it." He puts a hand on his chin and wonders, "I wonder if it will come out again? That will be quite a magic show."

"Indeed," Fuji answers back with a heartfelt laugh. He smiles and glances to the heated Hyuuga Natsume, who's currently glaring at the smirking Ryoma. _Now, who shall REALLY win?_

Natsume glares at Ryoma with hidden gritted teeth and thinks to himself, _Get that smirk off your stupid face, you freaking bastard, or else I'll burn it! _Natsume shakes his head gently and sighs to himself. _I have to relax and gain my composure. Getting me angry must be one of his objections. I won't fall for his sneaky traps. _Soon, he glances to his right and despite the huge crowd surrounding them, he sees Mikan sitting all alone on a bench rather far away. _Mikan…_

"Okay, both players, let's decide now who shall take the first serve," Fuji finally announces. Natsume and Ryoma nods and walks to the net. "Okay, Natsume-kun, your choice is?"

"Smooth," Natsume replies with as he intensely glares at the confident and arrogant-looking Echizen Ryoma who is at the other side of the court. _Enjoy this moment, Echizen… for later we shall play in hell!_

Fuji smiles and then spins the Tennis Racket. The result was: Smooth.

"Okay, Natsume-kun's serve," Fuji smiles as he climbs up to the place where Referees usually stay (I don't know the name, sorry). Natsume nods and picks up a random yellow Tennis Ball. Unfortunately, he cannot use the Alice Ball now, but that won't make any kind of difference in his performance. For now, he shall truly beat Echizen Ryoma and unlike last time, he won't collapse and will exert his best presentation.

_Get ready, bastard…_ Natsume thinks to himself as he throws the ball high up in the air. _I'll NEVER lose to you!_

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Okay, You're probably wondering why I only updated today. Please, do bear with me. I have so many projects to deal with that I don't even have time to open the MS Word anymore. But, I tried my best to put aside the projects and present to you the fourteenth chapter. Less humor than usual, but pretty long. I don't know if it was boring, but if it was, I apologize. My mind is not in its usual pace today…. .**

**Oh yes, before you react "OMG, YUU ISN'T IN LOVE WITH MIKAN!", well, according to Tachibana Higuchi-san, the creator of Gakuen Alice, she stated that Yuu fell in love with Mikan at first sight in one of her notes in the manga. Look at it in the Wikipedia if you want.  
**

**PLEASE REVIEW****! It's an appreciation for my work! Flames are a no-no while Constructive criticism are considered.**

**REVIEW!**

**Phoenix-Swordsman**


	15. A Match Turned Wrong

Summary:

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. All Rights Reserved to them. Thank you.

**Chapter 15**: A Match Turned Wrong

Soon, the sky is beginning to turn orange, the clouds changing their color to blend with the tangerine-colored heavens. And, in a certain part of Seigaku, specifically the Tennis Courts, an intense battle between two freshmen with the name Echizen Ryoma and Hyuuga Natsume is starting, with people cheering in the sidelines, not caring that time is already flying by fast. Well, they have anticipated this much so it's pretty understandable.

_I'll NEVER lose to you! _Natsume thinks to himself as he throws a yellow tennis ball high up in the air, making the audience look up in excitement and anxiety. The raven-haired boy grips the hold of his racket tightly and puts it behind his head, and then sways his racket with a powerful swing of his arm, making the audience gasp in surprise. Natsume just made a Twist Serve!

Ryoma smirks as he positions himself in the other side of the court. He admits it, that newcomer Hyuuga Natsume is good; even better than most of his opponents in the past. The way he holds the handle of his racket, the way he positions himself when the match is starting, how strong he hits the ball… the ruby-eyed boy isn't bad. It doesn't look like it, but Natsume might be a challenging foe.

_But… _Ryoma thinks to himself as the ball nears his side of the court in a fast pace. Ryoma soon runs into the left side as he positions the racket in his left hand. The proclaimed Tennis Prodigy gives a lop-sided smile and hits the ball as hard as he could. _… I'm definitely better than you!_

"OOOOOOOOOHHH!!" The audience exclaims as Ryoma hits the tennis ball back in a very fast invisible-like speed, making the crowd jump back a little in surprise. As Natsume runs along his side of the court, he moves in and hits the ball back in another strong swing, making the crowd's eyes go wide eye in amazement and disbelief. "WOAAAAAAAAHH!"

Akai, currently a second year Tennis member who has quite the potential to become a Regular, blinks his eyes and then rubs them with the back of his hand. "I… I think I've seen something amazing…" he says out loud as he stares wide-eye at the match going on before his very eyes. "I never knew that there would be someone this good… that new guy might even be considered as Ryoma's equal! Seeing this, I don't know what I've been doing for all these years…"

"Indeed, you suck," Sadahara Inui agrees as he suddenly appears beside Akai, a notebook in his hand, his two other fingers adjusting his box-shaped glasses that frames his eyes. "Ever since you entered the Tennis Club last year, your progress didn't have any kind of improvement, according to my handy-dandy notebook."

Akai jumps a few inches as he realizes that his senpai just appeared from out of nowhere. "S-Sadahara-senpai! Where did you come from? I thought you were supposed to be dead…" Inui raises an eyebrow and glances at him with a very much displeased look. Akai gives a forceful laugh and explains, hoping not to make the "Data-Based" tennis player angry, "W-well, it was according to Eiji-senpai, since you weren't around for the past few days, we thought that drinking your homemade juice was a little too much for you…"

Inui clears his throat and gives an annoyed smirk, a small vein popping in his head. _Damn Eiji… I'll get him for this. _"Well, I'm pretty much… alive, as you can see…" Akai gives a forceful laugh and both of them turn back their attention to the two freshmen competing. They see Ryoma giving an arrogant smile as he hits the Tennis ball coming at him with amazing accuracy and speed. They turn their attention to Natsume who hits it back with intense power. "Hmm…"

"T-They're both good… I can't catch up…" Akai mumbles to himself as he watches an amazing battle going on in front of him. "I can't decide who's better between Echizen and Hyuuga… both are good, terribly good that I'm insanely jealous of their skills… maybe it's Hyuuga since he's fast and hits it powerfully…"

Inui adjusts his glasses once again and writes something on his small pocket notebook. He gives a lop-sided smile and replies casually, "Natsume-kun might be good in playing Tennis, at least better than your no-good progress, but…" Inui looks up and crosses his arms in front of him as he continues, "…Ryoma-kun is definitely better than him. If you look on how Ryoma-kun plays in the last few matches in the past, you will see that he is very calculative, and analyzes his enemy very carefully. He thinks over his actions and looks for the enemy's strong and weak points. He's a force to reckon with, that's why he easily bested me in the first ranking matches."

Akai looks up to his senpai and asks, "And? What about Hyuuga? I don't see anything wrong about how he plays."

"Natsume-kun is different, you see," Inui replies as the crowd cheers louder as the match continues. "Unlike Ryoma-kun who thinks things through to every detail, Natsume only thinks of defeating Ryoma. He doesn't play because he likes Tennis. He plays to defeat _him. _ He doesn't think of a way to find out about Ryoma's weaknesses, if he has one, or a way to turn the table around." Inui smiles as he sees Natsume missing the ball by a few inches. "See?"

"Finally, after 10 minutes, 15-0!" Fuji laughs as he sits on the high chair where the referees are usually are. Fuji looks down and sees Natsume gasping for breath in his side of the court. Fuji gives his trademark smile and asks, "Natsume-kun, are you alright? You seem to be a little out of breath there? Do you want to give up?"

Natsume feels a nerve snap inside of him and looks up to Fuji with glowering red eyes, his sweat falling from his forehead. "Shut up, you bastard…" Natsume mumbles darkly between gasps. He looks up ahead and sees Ryoma waiting for him to serve with a mocking look in his hazel eyes. Natsume grits his teeth and positions himself again. He takes the yellow ball in his hand and throws it high in the air and hits it with another powerful swing of his racket. _Take this!_

"You're right, Sadahara-senpai… Natsume is already out of breath, but Ryoma didn't even make a sweat," Akai mutters in amazement as Ryoma skillfully returns the ball back with an equally strong blow.

Inui smirks and starts to rummage through his things. "That's because he may have discovered Natsume-kun's weak point and is trying to rub it on his face…" Inui mumbles. Soon, he stands straight up and hands a bottle of blue-ish water to Akai. "On a side note, do you want to drink this new Revised Super Special Inui Juice? It's less strong than usual, and I lessened the usual ingredients."

Akai roughly shakes his head in refusal, his face turning green at the mere sight of the "revised" juice. "N-no… thanks for the offer anyway, Sadahara-senpai…" replies Akai swallowing hard, inching himself away from his upperclassman. _Didn't he learn from last week's experience?_

"30 – 0!" Fuji announces as Natsume misses to hit another ball from Ryoma, his shirt already wet from his perspiration. "That was pretty long, 5 minutes to be exact. Both of you sure do have a lot of stamina, huh?" Fuji laughs as he looks at his stopwatch. He leans his back on the chair and gives his trademark friendly smile. "Well, this is the Ranking Matches, so best of luck to both of you."

"Bastard, just keep your mouth shut…" Natsume gasps as he stares at Ryoma practicing his swing with ease and grace, not one sweat on his tanned skin. _Crap, why can't he sweat a little, damn it… _Natsume thinks to himself as he picks up a random tennis ball found on the ground. He stares at it intensely and continues thinking, _I can't win like this… am I that useless without the Alice Ball?_ He looks up and sees Mikan watching alone from the benches quite far away, deep in thought. _Mikan… _Natsume shakes his head and throws the ball high up in the air. _I need to finish this match fast…_

"Geez, why is there no fire coming out?" Eiji pouts to himself as he sits Indian-style on the floor, sighing to himself in disappointment. "I waited for this moment to come to confirm that Natsume-kun is a magician Tennis player, but I don't see any magic tricks!" He looks up to his fellow member, Momoshiro, commonly known as Momo-chan, and says, "Are you disappointed too, Momo?"

Momo scratches the back of his head with a hand and tiredly replies, "Oi, oi, there is no such things as 'Magician Tennis Player'… it's all in your head. Sheesh, are you still a little kid who believes those stuff?" He crosses his arms and focuses his violet eyes on the struggling raven-haired boy. "But… I still can't deny the fact that that Hyuuga guy somehow made fire emerge from an unfamiliar tennis ball a week ago. It was very baffling and until now, I've not come up with any valid explanation on how that happened…" Then, he grins widely and continues, "But, putting that aside, it seems that Ryoma is winning! Well, what would you expect from the first ever freshman who became a Regular?"

"Natsume-kun is good too, you know," Oishi comments as he puts a hand on his chin. "He knows how to give a strong blow, and is pretty fast when running. He seems to have little stamina, though… I wonder why?" Oishi looks down and thinks out loud, "Is it connected to last week's incident or is he really weak?"

"What incident?" Kawamura asks as he turns to the Vice Captain of the Tennis Club. "I don't remember any incident?"

Oishi turns to the gentle Tennis player and replies, "Oh… you already fainted that time because of Hotaru's sudden appearance with her Gundam-inspired robot, so maybe that's why you don't know." Oishi then averts his attention back to the sweating Hyuuga Natsume and continues, "Last week, he and Ryoma played a very intriguing match. He's good, that I agree, as he surprised us with a Twist Serve. Addition to that, he made something so extraordinary. Whenever he hit the ball he used, which was quite unfamiliar, fire would emerge." Oishi smiles and turns to Kawamura, who was shocked. "That's right, the same fire that would appear in the TV screen background whenever you touch a Tennis Racket."

_Oi, oi… _Momoshiro thinks to himself as he glances to their Vice Captain with a sweat drop. _Is he trying to be sarcastic or something?_

"But after a while, Natsume-kun collapsed and it looked like his chest was burning," Oishi continues in a soft whisper, but loud enough for them to hear. "Good thing that Ruka-kun was able to give him sort of strange-looking medicine. That was able to ease the pain he was experiencing a bit. After that incident happened, I'm quite worried now since he seems to be weakening a bit."

Eiji laughs as he disagrees wholeheartedly, "Nah, I don't think so. He's mighty strong, Oishi!" Oishi looks down to him with a confused look. Eiji grins ear-to-ear and points to the match with his left index finger. "Don't you think he might be able to turn the tables around? Look and see for yourself!" Oishi arches an eyebrow and averts his attention back to the game. "See?"

"30-15!" Fuji announces with a calm and relaxed look as the crowd cheers louder. "Hyuuga Natsume-kun's point. Oh dear, might the mysterious black-haired newcomer turn the tables around?" Fuji asks to no one at all with his trademark smile, pissing Natsume with his friendly mockery. The strong Tennis player laughs wholeheartedly and shakes his head, "I'm just kidding, Natsume-kun. Keep it up. I'm expecting a better performance than that."

"I know that even if you don't tell me," Natsume snarls at him as he inhales and exhales roughly, his body getting sorer. He thinks to himself, _I can't believe that I only scored one point after all this time… _He looks up and sees Ryoma staring at him with intense hazel eyes. _He really is a force to reckon with… but I won't give up that easily! Just you wait, Echizen… I'll wipe that annoying smirk off your annoying face!_

With trembling ankles, he stands up and wipes the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. He could see his best friend, Ruka, watching anxiously in the sidelines, a worried look plastered on his face. Natsume sighs and concentrates back in the game. _How can I defeat him? I can't face him like this. _Natsume thinks to himself, as he throws the ball high to the air. _There MUST be a way!_

Ryoma smirks as Natsume serves the ball, the sphere spinning rapidly as it flies to his side of the court. From the look on Natsume's face, he can tell that his opponent is bothered about something. _Trying to find my weakness, maybe? _Ryoma grins softly to himself as he charges at the ball. He swings it powerfully and thinks, _Good luck on that, Hyuuga._

Natsume, already exhausted and angry of the fact that he's losing the match, tries to follow the ball. As he runs, he realizes that the ball is too far for him to reach. He clenches his teeth and dives for the ball, but when he discovers all efforts will be futile, he finally starts to snap.

_I can't lose… I can't lose… I CAN'T LOSE!! _Natsume thinks to himself as his body hits the ground, and the tennis ball slowly falling. If it touches the concrete floor, his match, and his pride, will shatter. He will be humiliated in front of Echizen, in front of all the people he boasted, and in front of Mikan. That's something he doesn't want to happen, not even once in a lifetime.

_**NO!**_ Natsume screams in his mind. With the last strength he has left, he takes out the racket in his hand and… throws it?

The racket hits the ball successfully and managed to have the ball go off-course. The ball then falls to the left and outside the court.

The crowd turns quiet suddenly because of the unusual action Natsume just made and stares at him and the ball. Fuji drops his notebook and pen. Momo rubs his eyes to make sure he's not seeing things. Ryoma arches one of his eyebrows. Oishi sighs and slaps his forehead. Tezuka turns around and walks away in disappointment. Eiji covers his mouth to stop his laughter. In short, everything, and everyone, was in silence.

But, not all were that quiet. Inui was off advertising his Revised Super Special Inui Juice to his subordinates, saying how good it was and how it would power them up to the point he wasn't paying attention to the game anymore, and, of course, does not know what was happening. Unlucky for him, since he was at the left side of the court, the racket that Natsume threw was rapidly flying to his direction.

"I assure you that this energy drink will satisfy all your hunger needs, and at the same time, strengthen your respiratory system from the frog… err, from the nutritious sea— OOF!!" Inui cuts off as the racket hits his glasses and his forehead, leaving him falling to the ground. _Why… do all…. The unfortunate events… always… happen to… me…? _Inui ponders to himself before he became unconscious. Oh well.

Not able to stop his laughter anymore, Eiji clutches his stomach and falls down to the floor laughing. "HAHAHAHA!! That was some hilarious tennis move, man!" he laughs, rolling back and forth. "Wait, wait, what was that called? The 'Flying Technique'? HAHAHAHA! Oh please, spare me! HAHAHAHA!"

Soon, the crowd joins and laughs together with him. Natsume stares at the people dumbfounded and was confused why they were laughing. He turns red and angrily stands up. "WHAT ARE YOU BASTARDS LAUGHING ABOUT?!" He screams angrily, Ruka running and trying to calm him. "What, is it a fight you want?"

Eiji sniffs and wipes the tears away from his eyes and walks forward with a smile. "Calm down, Natsume. We were just laughing because of that stupid move you made…" Eiji explains, trying to stop his laughter. "Pfft… I mean, that was really hilarious you know. We didn't expect someone like YOU to do something like that. It was a nice joke, by the way."

"Joke?" Natsume repeats, a disgusted look on his face. "You think I was joking? I was losing right there and then! YOU THINK I HAVE TIME TO JOKE?! This is a battle we're talking about!" He turns to Fuji and glares at him. "Was that move counted?"

Fuji blinks and stares at Natsume, speechless. He looks down and sees Eiji trying to stop his laughter again, and he could see Ryoma smirking under his cap. He scratches the back of his head and says, "Um, no, Natsume. That wasn't counted, and that wasn't the right move to do. In other words, that was a foul."

"Oh come on, does he really know how to play Tennis?" a random player asks out loud from the crowd. "I heard that a really awesome player joined the team, but I didn't come here to watch a kid throwing rackets around. What a waste of time."

"This must be a one big joke," another person laughs mockingly. "Echizen's rival? Puh-lease, that kid over there can't be considered his equal. He's still got a lot to learn before he can even play a match with Ryoma-sama. Hohoho!"

Hearing the side comments around him, Natsume lowers his head from embarrassment and grits his teeth because of growing rage and anger. How dare these people belittle him! If only they would realize he can kill them right there and then, burn them to a crisp because of their words, and maybe they won't have enough guts to humiliate him.

"Don't…" Natsume mutters darkly, his shoulders dropping and both his hand raising. Soon, a heavy gust of wind came, and even though the sun is already on the horizon, the temperature increased. Natsume looks up and glares at the people with dark, blood-colored eyes and continues, "… underestimate me."

"W-what is this creepy feeling?" Eiji whispers, looking around, staring at Natsume with scared eyes. Almost immediately, the other people started getting afraid and stopped laughing and mocking Natsume altogether. They all stare at the dark-haired kid and gulps as he stares at them back with menacing eyes. "N… Natsume… kun?"

_Oh no, he's going to use his Alice! _Ruka panics. _Stop it, Natsume! They're not worth it!_

"NATSUME!!" a familiar voice shouts. Natsume recognizes that voice and turns around and sees Mikan gasping for air, her face sweating. She looks at him with tears in her eyes and begs, "Please… stop it."

Natsume looks at Mikan's chocolate eyes and looks away with a pained and angry face. "Tch." He mutters and runs away.

"Natsume! Natsume! Wait!" Ruka yells as he gets his and Natsume's bag. Relieved that Mikan was able to stop him, he pats Mikan's shoulder and smiles reassuringly at her and says, "Don't worry, Mikan-chan. I'll calm him down." He then follows his best friend and yells, "Natsume, wait for me!"

Mikan turns to her clubmates and bows down. "I'm sorry for this!" Then she turns around and tries to follow her two friends, but was stopped by the tall Momoshiro. Mikan stares at him with wide eyes and whispers, "Momo-chan-senpai…"

"I'll go talk to him and see what I can do," Momoshiro smiles at her. He gives her a thumbs up and says, "Relax, I've handled these types of emo kids before. I know my way with them."

"Y-yes…" Mikan nods and smiles forcefully. "Thank you, Momo-chan-senpai." Soon, the Seigaku Regular runs and follow her two friends.

_Dear Grandpa,_

_Natsume was belittled by the people around him because of a mistake he did. You told me never to laugh at other's mistakes and I think I agree with you now. You have to give people a chance. When Natsume was laughed at, I can feel how embarrassed he must have felt, and how angry he could be. What should I do, Grandpa? I don't know how to comfort him._

_Mikan_

_**To Be continued… Yes, I'm saying it real this time…**_

Hello guys. It's me. Yeah, I'm back in the flesh. I'm sorry I did not update this fic sooner but since it's summer vacation, and I have less things to do, I was finally able to complete this chapter! Yay! To commemorate this, I made it extra longer. Hope I didn't bore you guys.

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! No reviews might mean no more chapters… sniff!


	16. Revealed

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi.

**Chapter 16: **Revealed

As the sun hides deeper into the horizon, the shadows of the night grow nearer, the sky turning darker and darker. The birds, which just a few hours ago, were singing in the clouds, go home to their nests. Children and students, aware that the day is coming to an end again, leave their schools and go back to their houses for dinner. It was the same old, same old for everybody. But for certain young middle schoolers, it was just the start of a large and complicated problem; A very hot and heated problem.

"Natsume, wait!" Ruka calls out as he follows his dark-haired friend running towards the park. Just a while earlier, Natsume and his recent rival, Echizen Ryoma, were in an intense battle of Tennis. Because of a mix of circumstances and unwanted actions, Natsume ran away to save face. As his best friend, Ruka feels obligated to comfort Natsume and make sure he does not use his dangerous Fire Alice to vent his anger. "Natsume, calm down, please!"

Natsume, finally becoming aware that his concerned best friend followed him all the way from the school to the park, stops. Gasping for breath, he turns around and his eyes soften at the sight of the blonde-haired boy whom he considers as already a part of his family. "Ruka…" he mutters to himself. Remembering the events that transpired just a while ago, he looks away and says, "What are you doing here? Go away! They'll laugh at you, too."

"You know I can't do that!" Ruka replies as he catches up to Natsume. He grabs both of Natsume's shoulders and looks at him in the eye. "Natsume, listen to me. Why did you run from the fight? The Natsume I know would never do that! Even if it's from embarrassment, from danger or from anything else, he'll face a problem head on and with all his strength, fight back." Natsume looks down and pushes his best friend off of him, as if telling him it's none of his business. Ruka sighs and whispers, "Natsume, what's happening to you? Ever since we came here… It's… It's as if … It's as if you're changing."

"Who the hell cares?" Natsume mutters angrily, clenching his fist angrily. He covers his forehead with his palm and mumbles, "That bastard Echizen… I can't forgive him. I'll never forgive him. I can't believe he'll just smirk at me like that while I was losing…" Making a small fireball with one of his hands, who looks up with fire visible in his crimson eyes. "And those annoying people who belittled me and laughed at me… I'll kill them all!"

"Natsume, I told you, snap out of it and calm down," Ruka, with concern eyes, asks Natsume, making the Fire Alice-user's fireball disappear in a blink of an eye. "What are you doing…? Do you want to have Mikan worry about you again? Don't you feel sorry for her, for whatever little bad actions you do, she worries about you ten times more than I do? Natsume, please, just once, calm down, think straight, and forget about using fire for a second."

Natsume grits his teeth and slaps his face of frustration. "Tch!"

"It's a good thing nobody is here in the park, or else, we'd be discovered and who knows what Jinno-sensei would do to us," Ruka sighs. The blue-eyed boy looks around and sees a bench not too far away. He offers his hand to his best friend and gives a soft smile. "Come on, let's sit down and rest. I'm sure you're tired from all that running."

Natsume says nothing, but follows Ruka anyway. Yeah, he really was tired from all that running. "Ruka…" he starts after a small silence. "I'm sorry I got you worried."

Ruka smiles and looks at his friend knowingly. The only reason why people would oftentimes misunderstand him is because of his scary and tough appearance, a façade he would put up to distance himself from others. What the people don't know about his best friend is that he's someone who's just as nice as them, only that he is not as expressive. What they fail to see is that he's a person just like any other, capable of feeling hurt. They think that just because he appears strong and rough, he's void of any emotions. Natsume may not seem like it, but he's happy when people are happy and sad when people are sad. But these are all hidden in a mask he has brought upon himself and the circumstances he didn't choose.

"It's okay, Natsume," Ruka chuckles to himself. "But you know, I'm kind of glad you didn't succumb to their mockery and jokes. At the very least, I'm grateful for that. And I'm glad you didn't let your emotions get the best of you. Usually you would beat others to a pulp if they get into your nerves."

"Yeah, well…" Natsume glances away. "I just didn't want to put myself in a mess again. And you did say that Mikan would worry ten times more if I do anything stupid." Natsume looks up and stares blankly at the orange sky. "It's getting late, Ruka." Natsume paused. "… we should get home soon."

"Yes, we should, but…" Ruka gives a sluggish smile and looks around uneasily. "… where are we, Natsume?"

"Crud," Natsume swears to himself as he looks down and scratches the back of his head. His looks around him and sees no one in sight in the park where the two of them were at was empty. What was present was only the sighing of the leaves of the trees, and some abandoned toys. "I don't know this place that well." Natsume turns to Ruka and says, "See? You shouldn't have followed me. Now you're lost, too."

"Haha…" Ruka awkwardly laughs. "Silly. I'll call my pet eagle." With a sigh, Ruka closes his eyes and opens his senses. Soon, a shadow from up above appeared – it was Ruka's eagle, its giant wings symbolizing its majestic-like greatness.

Ruka smiles and gestures his eagle to come closer to him. The eagle lands on the blonde boy's shoulder and leans its beak closer to Ruka's ear.

"I see…" Ruka mutters with a knowing smile. "I see, I see. Thank you." The eagle then flaps its wings and flies away from the duo. Ruka glances over to Natsume and says, "According to the eagle, we're 4 blocks away from the school." He pauses and studies Natsume's stern facial expression. "… I think the heat has cooled down. I'm sure everybody's gotten over it."

Natsume looks at him plainly and bluntly replies, "Whatever. I don't care much about a bunch of howling idiots."

Ruka gives a short chuckle. Now that's the Natsume he knows.

**EARLIER…**

"_We are now nearing Shinjuku Gyoen Park. Please refrain from smoking and remain alert of your belongings."_

_Huh… _Thinks a certain Rikkai Junior High School student, as he slowly opens his sleepy eyes. His vision is blurry at first, but then after a few seconds, he recognizes the empty seats of the bus he was riding in. Yawning, he scratches his messy hair and sleepily looks around. _Where the hell am I?_

"_We repeat, we are now nearing Shinjuku Gyoen Park. Please refrain from smoking and remain alert of your belongings. Thank you."_

The Rikkai student's cat-like green eyes soon widens in surprise as he mutters in disbelief, "Shi… Shinjuku? Are you fuckin' kidding me?" He stands and runs to the end of the bus and looks outside the window. "Shit! I can't believe this, I missed my destination!"

"Thank you sir, have a nice day!" the driver waves to him as he frantically climbs down the bus. As he reaches the cement sidewalk, the door of the bus closes and drives off.

"Shit…" the Rikkai student, known as Kirihara Akaya, mutters under his breath. "I fell asleep… again. Guess I have to walk back."

As Akaya was about to turn around, he sees a pair of Seigaku boys catching their breath in the middle of the Shinjuku Gyoen Park. "Seigaku… they're wearing the Seigaku uniform, but I haven't seen those two before…" Smirking coyly, he rubs his chin with his fingers and thinks, _this ought to be interesting._

He sees the dark-haired boy glaring and saying something with angry eyes. _Dark hair, check. Scary eyes, check. Overconfident aura, check. Looks like an Echizen clone alright… a little bit more angsty though. _He observes as he hides behind a tree. His eyes then turns wide as he sees the angry boy make flames with his hands. "Fi… Fire?"

"KIRIHARA? What are you doing here?" A familiar voice calls out to him. He turns and sees Momoshiro running to his location with confusion on his face. "Are you on your way to Seigaku to spy on us again?" Putting his hands on his hips, he says in a mocking voice, "Well, too bad Mr. Mojohoho, but – UMPH!" Momo stops as Akaya puts his hand on his mouth rather… painfully.

"If you don't shut your big mouth, I'm going to zip it myself! And don't think I'm kidding here!" Akaya hisses. Momo glares at him, but he is released anyway. "I saw two of your Seigaku babies going emo over at the park. But that's not all…"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Akaya moves his head towards the direction of the two boys and smirks coyly. "Why don't you see for yourself?"

Skeptical, Momoshiro slowly glances over to the two boys. For a moment, he sees a fireball disappear from Natsume's hand. With widened eyes, he comes back to the tree where Akaya was and covers his mouth with his hand. _Fire… there was fire in Natsume's hand, and it wasn't just a fire, it was a fireball! _He thinks frantically. _And… and it disappeared! _He looks around and sees a calm and smirking Akaya with folded arms. "You… why are you so calm about this? That was just strange! You freak."

The messy-haired Rikkai student looks at the shocked Momoshiro with his cat-like eyes and replies in a childish manner, "And why would I act like you did? What, you want my jaw to drop 10 inches under?" He shrugs his shoulders and smirks. "I guess this is the difference between Rikkai and Seigaku, no? We people just have class."

"Except you, of course…" Momo mumbles, low enough for Akaya not to hear. Then, he sees an eagle flying. "An eagle? That's weird… there shouldn't be anything like that here in the middle of Tokyo." He slowly peeks from the tree and sees the eagle land on Ruka's shoulder. "Holy shit -… did that eagle just land on Ruka's shoulder?"

"Ruka?" Akaya repeats in an interested tone. The Rikkai student peeks and smiles coyly. "So that guy is Ruka, huh." He then turns to Momo, looks at him for a while and then with a poke, "Hey."

Momo glares at him at the corner of his eye. "WHAT."

"I want those kids."

"WHAT?"

**To be continued…**

Okay, just a short update. You know why I haven't updated for so long? IT'S BECAUSE I HATE THIS PARTICULAR CHAPTER. Hahaha. I'm sorry . So here's Chapter 16 and I ended it quick so I can start a new one asap. Hehe. I'm sorry it took me so long to update :


	17. Our Dream

**Summary:**

The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break lose? Prince of Tennis and Gakuen Alice Crossover! Ryoma x Ruka x Mikan x Natsume slight Sakuno x Ryoma

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi. Also I borrowed a quote from One Piece. Don't own that either.

**Little note: **Bonjour! I am absolutely sorry for hanging you all out there. I've had several messages from followers of this fanfic saying how much they want me to update, and well, I kinda felt guilty So since today is a holiday, I'll be giving you another chapter just a few hours after Chapter 16 ^_^ Yipee! I'm now a sophomore in university that's why I'm extra busy. I'm also preparing to go to France soon for a study tour, from April to May. _**Anyone from Strasbourg, France?**_ Stop by and say hi! :D

**Chapter 17: Our Dream**

"Are you fucking stupid?" Momoshiro whispers angrily to Akaya, not believing that this Rikkai student just mentioned he wanted the two new kids. From the several times he has encountered this fellow, he knows him enough to know that he is up to no good. "What the hell would you want them for? You're not actually planning to sell them to some freak circus, are you?"

Akaya looks at the two kids at a distance, and then gives a shrug. With a lop-sided smile, he replies, "I wasn't actually thinking of that, but now that you mention it…"

Momoshiro slaps his forehead in frustration._ What an idiot…_ Regaining his composure, the second-year looks at the two newcomers again. With his own eyes, he saw fire come out from the hands of the raven-haired kid. Does that explain the fire that came out when he first played against Ryoma? What on Earth is he?

_Wait… no… _

It's finally making sense. It's not just that Hyuuga kid that's strange; it's each and every one of them! Farfetched as it may seem, there's no other explanation. _Natsume-kun can draw fire… that Kokoro guy can read minds… Ruka-kun can call animals… Hotaru-chan has all these weird and out-of-this-world stuff… Mikan-chan… I don't know her "power" yet, but I'm sure she has one too. _Momoshiro breaks a sweat about the endless possibilities. _These kids… who are they and where did they come from?_

"Momo-chan-senpai! What are you doing here?" a voice calls out that, interrupting the thoughts of the Seigaku student. Momoshiro flinches and looks up to see Ruka holding a cat in his arms and Natsume staring at him, a questioning look apparent on their faces. He could particular notice two red eyes were looking at him intently in a not-so-nice-manner.

_Uh-oh, I hope they weren't thinking we were spying on them…_ Momo thinks to himself. Getting up from his position, he dusts the leaves off his lap and with a hand behind his back, gives out a fake laugh. "Oh, well, I was worried that you guys ran away, so I tried to follow you and voila, I ended up here!"

Natsume glares at him. He's no different from the adults of Alice Academy… pretending they care about you and your wellbeing but in the end have motives of their own they want to achieve. He knows enough to know that there are just some people that you can't trust, and this guy… this goofy smiling idiot… is someone you have to approach with caution.

"W-well… in any case… we should get back to school, the others are waiting for us," Ruka starts again, feeling the tension growing between the two. The orange-colored cat jumps out of Ruka's fragile arms and stretches its limbs. Ruka kneels down and pets its head, and the cat purrs back in return.

"Nice pussy!" Akaya exclaims out of nowhere, a sly grin on his face, earning a glare from both Natsume and Momoshiro. He gives a loud laugh and quickly says, "I meant the cat, the cat! Nice pusssssy-cat."

"Who are you?" Natsume asks in a dark tone, obviously not liking the presence of the newcomer. He can just feel that this fellow was up to no good. He looks down and sees the outsider was sporting a different uniform. "You're not from our school…"

"He's Kirihara Akaya, he's from a school not too far from Seigaku," Momoshiro starts to explain, turning around to face the direction of their school, but his gaze fixed on Akaya. "He's also a tennis player, and our team and his team are rivals. It's best not to trust him too much." Akaya clears his throat and gives a shrug, a mocking look still pasted on his face. "Seriously, bud, go away. You're an eyesore!"

"Yes, yes," Akaya gives a mocking sigh. With one final smirk, he gives a short wave and turns around. "I'll turn round and go the other way."

Ruka stares at the retreating figure with his round blue eyes, deep in his thoughts. _Kirihara… Akaya…_

When he knew the Rikkai student was gone, Momoshiro turns to both Ruka and Natsume. He sighs to himself now that he discovered a side of them he wasn't supposed to know. Natsume being able to draw out fire… Ruka being able to connect with animals… _Sigh, how troublesome…_ he thinks to himself. _What am I supposed to do with what I know? Should I tell the others?_ He shakes his head. _No… things like this are not supposed to be disclosed to the public, but…_

"Something bothering you, Momo-chan-senpai?" Ruka asks with a gentle smile. Momoshiro looks at him for a second and then gives a warm smile, a smile Ruka knew very much. It was the same smile he would see from Andou Tsubasa, a senpai of theirs from Alice Academy – a smile so warm and inviting, a gesture that made him feel nothing could ever go wrong. He feels Momo's hand ruffle his blonde hair. "Shall we go back to school?"

"Yes, let's!" Momo exclaims with a smile, putting a hands on both the two boys' shoulders. Natsume slaps his hand away and walks ahead, following the orange cat back to school. Momo rubs his throbbing hand and exclaims out loud, "Gee, what's his problem?"

**Meanwhile… the others…**

It has been over an hour since Natsume stormed away in a fit of anger. The students of Seigaku were already on their way home, and the Ranking Matches were halfway done and will be continued for another day. The tennis court was almost empty, save for a few people.

Eiji stretches his arms and walks toward the drinking fountain. Man, was he pooped! He was assigned to fight against anonymous student and he won in less than a minute. After the fiasco that was the match between Ryoma and Natsume, he and Ryoma decided to have a friendly game to kill time. _But damn, that kid is too good for his own sake,_ Eiji thinks with frustration, pouting. _Not that I lost to him, no, no, I mean, it was 30-0, but I was going to win if I didn't let my guard down. Yup, yup!_

_Where is Ryoma, anyway?_ Eiji looks around and spots Ryoma walking to the benches, a towel in one hand and a bottle of water in another. Across him was Sakura Mikan, currently gazing towards the direction Natsume ran away. _That Hyuuga kid… he didn't have to run away… were we too harsh? It was a silly mistake, I mean, he IS good, no doubt. I hope we didn't hurt his feelings! I don't wanna get in trouble with the admin just because we made fun of an exchange student!_

"Ryoma, wassup?" Eiji calls out, walking towards the first year Tennis prodigy. Ryoma looks up with his hazel-colored eyes and gives a blank stare. Eiji sits beside the younger boy and places an arm over his shoulder. With a sneaky smirk, he quickly points out to the silent and waiting Mikan. "You dig her?"

Ryoma turns to him casually with a blank stare and replies in a blank tone, "Grow up." Without saying anything else, he throws his towel to Eiji and walks away.

"H-hey! I was just kidding!" Eiji exclaims, putting the towel aside. With a pout, he whispers to himself, "Kids…"

_Natsume…_ Mikan thinks to herself as she continues to wait. _Where are you? _

While he was being belittled by the others because of the tennis incident, she wanted to comfort him and protect him from the hurtful words. It hurt her to see him being looked down like that. In Alice Academy, anyone who would even dare would be turned to a crisp almost immediately, but here, Natsume is more vulnerable since he can't use his Alice at all. And when he ran away, oh how much her feet wanted to move and follow him, but Momoshiro offered to do it in her stead.

_I'll go talk to him and see what I can do…_ Mikan remembers him saying that. But what can he do? What can he do to appease the Black Cat? Despite this thinking, she had no choice but to trust him…

_Ruka-pyon is there too!_ Mikan comforts herself. That's right, Ruka-pyon followed after Natsume, too. If there's anybody who can surely find Natsume's whereabouts, it would definitely by Ruka-pyon. Those two are always together and are inseparable. _I have to trust Ruka-pyon… _Mikan closes her eyes tightly and continues, _Natsume…!_

Then she felt something cold hit her cheek.

Mikan opens her eyes in surprise and turns to see Ryoma handing her a cold bottle of water. She slowly takes the bottle from him and feels the coldness seeping through her skin. "Ryoma-kun…" the tangerine-named girl mutters. "What…"

"Sit down," he interrupts, turning around and heading towards the benches. "Nothing's going to change if you keep standing there."

Mikan stares at him, back to the bottle, and back at him again. This person was her host. His family welcomed her with open arms and treated her like a part of the clan almost instantly. He may be quiet, and rude, and kind of perverted sometimes, but… he was her friend. Even if he was the main cause of why Natsume was acting like this now, she couldn't find it in her heart to hold any grudges against him. She couldn't bring herself to totally blame him for what happened.

A long and deafening silence awaited both of them after Mikan sat beside him. _This isn't good…_ Mikan thinks to herself, occasionally glancing to his host every now and then._ Waiting for Natsume like this isn't going to help in anything, might as well initiate a conversation!_

"Ne, Ryoma-kun, I can see you really love Tennis! Since when did you start playing Tennis?" Mikan asks as cheerfully as she could, a big grin plastered on her face. Ryoma didn't glance at her one bit. "Hmm?" she continues to smile, patiently waiting for a response. Ryoma opens his bottle of water again and gulps it all down in one sip. He puts it down and leans on the bench and closes his eyes as if going to sleep.

_HE'S IGNORING ME!_ Mikan thinks in disbelief. _HE'S JUST LIKE NATSUME!_

Blushing, Mikan looks down and pouts. _Mou, he's so mean! And here I was trying to be all nice to him AND starting a conversation! But oh! Maybe he had a sad past when he started playing Tennis so he doesn't want to talk about it! Yeah, that's it! I'll try asking another question._

Turning to Ryoma once more, she asks again with a brighter smile, "Ryoma-kun, what's your dream? What do you want to achieve when you grow up?"

Ryoma didn't budge. His eyes was still closed and didn't seem to be listening. Mikan furrows her eyebrows and turns away teary-eyed. _Gee, fine! You really are a jerk after all! I'll just stand over there and wait for Natsume myself!_

Before Mikan even had the chance to stand up, Ryoma blurts out loud, "I started playing since I was little." The brown-haired girl turns to her host with widened eyes. With eyes still closed, he continues, "Before I came here, I was winning tournaments in America. My dad dragged me here not too long ago. My dream? I don't know if I have one. I guess it's to win," Ryoma pauses and opens his eyes a little. "… and keep getting better."

_Ryoma-kun…_ Mikan thinks to herself. She gives a knowing smile. "I see…" she grins. "You're just like me!"

Ryoma opens one of his eyes and doesn't say anything. After a while, he mutters, "How and in what form are we even alike?"

Mikan jumps out from her seat and turns to him with a bright smile, her hands at her back. "You want to improve. Me too! I want to improve, too. I want to be stronger!" She looks at the darkening sky and continues, "Ever since I met my friends… Hotaru, Iinchou, Ruka, Natsume… I've been nothing but a burden to them. I always find myself in trouble and they always come and save me. They've always been protecting me, each and every single time."

She turns to him again. "You can say I'm a burden to them," she smiles. "They always tell me it's fine, it's alright… but I don't feel the same way. What if there comes a time that they're the ones who need protecting? I want to be there for them and guard them as they've done to me in the past. I don't want to keep on being the one protected – I want to be the protector!" Mikan closes her eyes and places her hands near her heart. "That's why… I have to improve, too. I have to get better." Mikan remembers Natsume a few days ago, coughing after a practice match against Ryoma. It hurt her so much, yet there was nothing she could do. She felt so useless, and it hurt her even more knowing she wanted to do something, but can't. "I have to become stronger… because I don't want to lose the people close to my heart."

"I'm only one person," she continues, opening her eyes and staring deep back to Ryoma's hazel ones. She giggles as she remembers her best friend… "I can't make robots or new stuff…" … Yume… "I can't read minds…" … Iinchou… "I can't lead a group of people…" … Ruka… "I can't connect to animals…" … and Natsume… "I know I need friends to help me if I want to get ahead in life! That's why…!" With twinkling and sincere eyes, she takes Ryoma's hands with hers and exclaims, "That's why… let's keep getting better together, Ryoma-kun!"

Ryoma doesn't say anything. _This girl…_ he thinks to himself, not even pulling his hand away when in normal circumstances he would've walked away. But he didn't. For some odd reason, there was something about her and the way she say her dreams that didn't make him stand up and walk away. _This girl…_

"Hey, look, they're back!" Eiji exclaims, jumping from his seat. He waves his hand excitedly and shouts, "Oiiii! Momoshiro! Ruka-chan! Natsume! What took you so long!"

"Natsume?" Mikan mutters, suddenly letting go of Ryoma's hand. She turns around and sees three figures emerging from the shadows. In less than a few seconds, she could clearly see Natsume, Ruka and Momoshiro appearing and walking toward their direction. "Natsume!"

But before she could run towards them, she feels a hand grab her arm. Mikan stops and sees Ryoma not letting go of her. "Ryoma-kun? Is something wrong?"

"Stay." Ryoma softly says, his eyes closed and head slightly tilted down.

"Stay?" Mikan repeats. She looks back to the nearing Natsume and company. "B-but…!"

"I'm hurt," Ryoma blankly says. "My head hurts. My stomach, too. My back is aching, and I think I'm catching a rare disease."

Mikan panicks. "Eh, eh, eh, EH?" she exclaims in a fright. "Oh no! What should we do! We should get a doctor, but-but-but," she looks back to the walking group and back to the still Ryoma. "Oh no!"

Ryoma opens his eyes and observes her. He lets go of her arm, stands up and faces the opposite direction. "Stupid, I was just teasing you," he softly mutters. "Go."

"Eh?" Mikan looks at her host. Then she hears her name being called by Momoshiro. With a final glance to Ryoma, she turns around and runs to her two friends. "Natsume!"

Ryoma doesn't budge and instead looks at his hand, the same hand he used to stop Sakura Mikan on her tracks. It was the first time he ever did something like that. _What…_ he thinks to himself, closing his fingers. _… did I do that for?_

**To be continued…**

I hope you guys liked it! It was super fun to write again after a long while. I really like this fanfic and would totally love to see through it till the very end, so I will *try* to update it *more often* now… haha. No, that doesn't mean one chapter every year… *ahem*.


End file.
